The recent merger of the New Mexico Parkinson’s Coalition (NMPC) and national nonprofit Parkinson & Movement Disorder Alliance (PMDAlliance) is expected to significantly boost support services for Parkinson’s patients in the New Mexico area, according to the organizations. “I’m a firm believer in mergers when the organizations share similar missions and are compatible in their purpose and […]
A new network launched by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, will unite leading investigators from various biomedical fields, as well as biologists and physicians, in gaining insight into why neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s occur. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s (CZI) Neurodegeneration Challenge Network will focus on neurodegenerative diseases as a group of disorders that […]
Depression is often associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD), as is apathy. But there may be a subtle difference between the two. At the risk of oversimplifying, let’s define depression as a state of sadness and loss of interest, and apathy as an apparent lack of motivation. Put sadness and low motivation together and the result […]
Depression is often associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD), as is apathy. But there may be a subtle difference between the two. At the risk of oversimplifying, let’s define depression as a state of sadness and loss of interest, and apathy as an apparent lack of motivation. Put sadness and low motivation together and the result […]
A concoction made from several Chinese herbal medicines helped reduce brain inflammation and promoted nerve cell survival in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease, a study finds. The study, “Curative Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Chinese Optimized Yinxieling Formula in Models of Parkinson’s Disease,” was published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the gradual loss […]
Neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra, a critical area of the brain involved in Parkinson’s, leads to memory deficits, according to a study that explored the effects of levodopa on a rat model of the disease. Findings of the study, titled “Implication of nigral dopaminergic lesion and repeated L-dopa exposure in neuropsychiatric symptoms of Parkinson’s disease,” also illustrated the key […]
Impaired activity of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GCase), which is responsible for breaking down and recycling cell waste, boosts neurodegeneration and accumulation of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s, according to a new mouse study. The research, “Development and biochemical characterization of a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease bearing defective glucocerebrosidase activity,” was published in the journal Neurobiology of […]
A reader recently posed the following question: “Why are there never any comments on dementia in regards to Parkinson’s disease? It is very real, and 40 percent of Parkinson’s patients deal with it.” So, I began looking into it. My answer could have been, “Because I don’t want to think about that stuff.” The idea […]
A disorder related to tiny blood vessels in the brain, known as cortical small vessel disease, is directly linked to worsening motor function in Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study. An additional association between modifiable vascular risk factors, in particular hypertension, and dementia highlights the need to manage these risk factors in Parkinson’s patients. The […]
Voyager Therapeutics has begun patient dosing in a Phase 2 trial testing its investigational VY-AADC gene therapy in Parkinson’s patients whose motor symptoms are not responding adequately to oral medication. The trial, called RESTORE-1 (NCT03562494), is recruiting participants across seven sites in the United States. VY-AADC is a therapy that delivers the DDC gene, which provides instructions for making the […]
PDlink is a service of the Parkinson’s Disease Resource Center, provided by:
