Category Archives: Parkinson’s Treatment

April 9, 2014 Enid Burns for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online Researchers as Newcastle University in the UK are studying how Google Glass can be used as an assistive aid to help people with Parkinsons disease the wearable technology might help patients retain their independence. University researchers received five pairs of Google Glass as a donation from Google. The wearables allow researchers to test how people with long-term health conditions can use Glass. The Universitys Digital Interaction Group in Culture Lab, a part of the School of Computing Science, has been working with a group of Parkinsons volunteers between the ages of 46 and 70. The research team initially focused on Glass acceptability within the group. Now that that focus has been met, the team is using the technology to provide discreet prompts linked to key behaviors typical of Parkinsons. Glass is being used to remind patients to speak up, or to swallow in order to prevent drooling. The wearable device is also being used to serve reminder messages for a patient to take medication, or in advance of appointments. The study was led by Dr. John Vines, PhD, student Roisin McNaney and Dr. Ivan Paliakov. Findings will be presented at … Continue reading →

British charity The Cure Parkinson's Trust has been condemned for funding "profoundly disturbing" experiments in which monkeys have their brains damaged to mimic symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The suffering induced was said to be "severe" under the rating system used by the Home Office to assess animal tests. In one case, the monkeys had already been subjected to similar tests in previous studies. The research, published in 2011 and 2012, was conducted in Canada but was supported by the UK charity. Both teams of scientists were testing ways to reduce the side effects of drug treatment for Parkinson's. The experiments involved dosing marmoset monkeys with the toxic chemical MPTP to damage their brains and induce the symptoms. High doses of the drug L-Dopa were then administered producing severe side effects including dyskinesia, or uncontrolled movement and psychosis. The scientific papers about the experiments cite Cure Parkinson's Trust as a co-funder. Andrew Tyler, director of the animal rights group Animal Aid, said: "It is clear that the vast majority of the British public do not want their money being used to fund profoundly disturbing experiments on animals of the sort co-funded by the Cure Parkinson's Trust. Read more: Animal Testing: Parkinson's … Continue reading →

Published: 4/6/2014 - Updated: 7 hours ago BY MIKE SIGOV BLADE STAFF WRITER A Parkinsons disease expert told hundreds of area patients and their family members who gathered in Maumee on Saturday to have hope in the light of the latest developments in the disease treatment research and called on them to seek information about new treatments and ways to participate in clinical trials. The Parkinsons therapy pipeline [right now] is one of the most exciting Ive seen over several years, Dr. Brian Fiske said in summation of his keynote presentation as he stepped off the podium. People with Parkinsons should be hopeful about the new treatments that are starting to come to the clinic or are in the clinical testing stage. Dr. Fiske was the keynote speaker at the 17th annual Parkinsons Disease Symposium themed Todays Research, Tomorrows Hope, which was held at Parkway Place, 2592 Parkway Plaza. There are a variety of approaches and multiple drugs, Dr. Fiske said during his 60-minute presentation. ... There are lots of drugs and lots of ideas moving into clinical testing phases. Dr. Fiske is the vice president of research programs for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research, where he … Continue reading →

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Eliciting brain plasticity to keep the body moving - Science Nation With support from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Emerging Frontiers of Research and Innovation (EFRI) program, bioengineer Gert Cauwenberghs, of the... By: NSF BRAIN Initiative … Continue reading →

Published: 4/5/2014 - Updated: 17 seconds ago BLADE STAFF About 400 people came to Parkway Place in Maumee today for an update on the latest research of ways to treat those diagnosed with Parkinson Disease. Highlights of the 17th annual Parkinson's Disease Symposium themed "Today's Research, Tomorrow's Hope,"featured a 60-minute keynote presentation by Dr. Brian Fiske, vice president ofresearch programs for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research. Topics covered by Dr. Friske included developments in Parkinson treatment research, new treatments, and new clinical research studies available. The treatment of Parkinsons disease is quite individualized, so it is extremely important for patients to keep up-to-date with the latest research and treatment options to meet our goal of making this disease as insignificant as possible in their lives, said Dr. Lawrence Elmer, professor of neurology and director of the Gardner-McMaster Parkinson Center at The University of Toledo, in a prepared statement. Read the original: 400 attend symposium on Parkinson's … Continue reading →

ATLANTA (CBS46) - April is Parkinson's Awareness Month, and now there is a new procedure being done right here in Atlanta to help those with the disease. Instead of being awake for hours while doctors operate on your brain, patients can now be put under anesthesia. In years past, patients would have to be awake for ten hours or more as doctors use old MRI images to navigate the brain. Therefore it's no surprise that Gwyn Hazelwood, who has been battling Parkinson's for more than twenty years, did not want to go under the knife. "You think of surgery on your head and that's extreme for most of us," said Hazelwood. For the past two decades, Hazelwood's condition progressively worsened. Her legs and arms shook uncontrollably. Her daughter told us she couldn't event lift her grandchildren. "She was practically crawling through the hallways. It was like watching a baby," said Erica Brown, Hazelwood's daughter. Enter a new piece of technology called ClearPoint. It allows doctors to use 3D, real-time images of the brain throughout the procedure. That's not all. Patients get to be asleep the entire time. Dr. Robert Gross, brain surgeon at Emory University Hospital, told CBS46 that the … Continue reading →

When it comes to living with Parkinson's Disease. Gary Hilburger knows what others are going through. That's why he was excited to hear of a new study involving researchers at the University of Rochester a clinical trial to evaluate whether an old drug used to treat high blood pressure might provide new hope for Parkinson's patients. "Identifying a drug that slows progression is really the holy grail of treatment. There are currently no treatments that have been identified to do that," said Dr. Kevin Biglan, one of the study's leaders. "I've been in four trials so far, and I'll continue to do so until there's no breath left in my body," Gary said. "What keeps me going in all this, is it's not about me. That's the whole deal." The three-year trial is made possible thanks to a $23 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Here is the original post: Can Drugs Already on the Market Slow Parkinson's Disease? … Continue reading →

Updated: Wednesday, April 2 2014, 06:11 PM EDT by Kelsie Smith Rochester, N.Y. -- The University of Rochester is playing a large role in a trial for a promising treatment that could slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. "My wife first noticing it, the hunched shoulders the shuffling of the feet," said Gary Hilburger. Hilburger was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease 12 years ago. He's one of the eight to ten people with Parkinson's disease that will be part of the clinical trial in Rochester. He sees this as an opportunity to help others. "I look and I see people I wheelchairs, people who can't stand and speak for themselves and I look up and I pray at night and say 'God, thank you that I've got this,'" said Hilburger. "In that sense Parkinson's is a blessing of perspective. It's opened my eyes to understand and walk even a little bit of the path of people who suffer more. I've been in 4 clinical trials so far and as long as I got a breath in my body I'm going to keep going." A $23-million grant from the National Institutes of Health is making it possible for a new Phase 3 … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 1-Apr-2014 Contact: Marla Paul marla-paul@northwestern.edu 312-503-8928 Northwestern University CHICAGO --- Tanya Simuni, M.D., medical director of Northwestern University's Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center, was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct a $16 million phase III study of the safety and efficacy of the drug isradipine as a potential neuroprotective agent in Parkinson's disease. This is the only phase III Parkinson's neuroprotective study currently funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at NIH. The research is being conducted by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in partnership with the University of Rochester Medical Center. The study will be carried out at 56 Parkinson Study Group centers in North America over five years. "If this drug proves to be safe and effective, it will change the way we treat Parkinson's disease," said Simuni, the principal investigator of the study. "The major advantage is isradipine is already widely available and inexpensive and will allow for rapid translation of our research into clinical practice. Although we now have very effective symptomatic treatments to manage Parkinson's, the development of a disease-modifying intervention remains the Holy Grail." Simuni is the Arthur C. Nielsen, … Continue reading →