Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Parkinson's Disease News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/parkinsons_disease/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171560.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171560.php Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) neurologists Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD, and Daniel Tarsy, MD, have been awarded grants totaling more than $1.5 million from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) to conduct investigations aimed at improving the quality of life for patients with Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's Disease Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171528.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171528.php Australian scientists have significantly advanced our understanding of dopamine release from nerve cells, findings that should speed the development of more effective drugs for treating Parkinson's Disease. People with Parkinson's Disease suffer from muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement and, in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement. These primary symptoms are caused by the loss of dopamine producing nerve cells in the brain. Parkinson's Disease Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171379.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171379.php Researchers from North Carolina State University have identified a gene that tells embryonic stem cells in the brain when to stop producing nerve cells called neurons. The research is a significant advance in understanding the development of the nervous system, which is essential to addressing conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders. Stem Cell Research Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170877.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170877.php A team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) report their success in solving the molecular structure of a key portion of a cellular receptor implicated in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other serious illnesses. Assistant Professor Hiro Furukawa, Ph.D., and colleagues at CSHL, in cooperation with the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory, obtained crystal structures for one of several "subunits" of the NMDA receptor. Alzheimer's / Dementia Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169776.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169776.php Researchers at Iowa State University have found an essential key to possibly cure Parkinson's disease and are looking for others. Anumantha Kanthasamy, a distinguished professor of biomedical sciences and W. Eugene and Linda R. Lloyd Endowed Chair in Neurotoxicology at the ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, has been working to understand the complex mechanisms of the disease for more than a decade and thinks he has found hope for the cure. Parkinson's Disease Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169695.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169695.php Learning to talk also changes the way speech sounds are heard, according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists at Haskins Laboratories, a Yale-affiliated research laboratory. The findings could have a major impact on improving speech disorders. "We've found that learning is a two-way street; motor function affects sensory processing and vice-versa," said David J. Neurology / Neuroscience Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169636.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169636.php Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers a less invasive way to eliminate tremors caused by Parkinson's disease and essential tremor than deep brain stimulation (DBS) and radiofrequency (RF) treatments, and is as effective, according to a long-term study presented November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Parkinson's Disease Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169330.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169330.php Simvastatin, a commonly used, cholesterol-lowering drug, may prevent Parkinson's disease from progressing further. Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center conducted a study examining the use of the FDA-approved medication in mice with Parkinson's disease and found that the drug successfully reverses the biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes caused by the disease. Parkinson's Disease Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169188.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169188.php A Swiss research team has found that using an animal's own brain cells (autologous transplant) to replace degenerated neurons in select brain areas of donor primates with simulated but asymptomatic Parkinson's disease and previously in a motor cortex lesion model, provides a degree of brain protection and may be useful in repairing brain lesions and restoring function. Parkinson's Disease Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168899.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168899.php Impax Pharmaceuticals, the brand products division of Impax Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPXL), announced that it has initiated a multinational Phase III trial of its late-stage drug candidate IPX066 in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. IPX066 is an investigational extended release carbidopa-levodopa product intended to rapidly achieve and then sustain effective blood concentrations of levodopa, potentially improving PD clinical symptom management. Parkinson's Disease Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168532.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168532.php Scientists have overcome a key barrier to the clinical use of stem cells with a technique which transforms regular body cells into artificial stem cells without the need for introducing foreign genetic materials, which could be potentially harmful. The research, published in Stem Cells, suggests that cells taken from a patient's eye can be "reprogrammed" to replace or restore cells lost to degenerative diseases. Stem Cell Research Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168330.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168330.php An international team led by a National Institutes of Health researcher has found that carriers of a rare, genetic condition called Gaucher disease face a risk of developing Parkinson's disease more than five times greater than the general public. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In previous studies, several genes have been linked to Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's Disease Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167981.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167981.php Research presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health, provides a better understanding of the brain, nervous system, and related disorders. Neurology / Neuroscience Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168009.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168009.php What's New: MIT researchers have identified populations of neurons that code time with extreme precision in the primate brain. These neurons are found in two interconnected brain regions, the prefrontal cortex and the striatum, both of which are known to play critical roles in learning, movement, and thought control. Why it matters: The timing of individual actions, whether we are speaking, driving a car, or playing the piano, require very precise control. Neurology / Neuroscience Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167976.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167976.php Tsuruta et al. find that a lipid kinase directs a voltage-gated calcium channel's degradation to save neurons from a lethal dose of overexcitement. The study appears in the October 19, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. An important player in cellular signaling, calcium is also terribly toxic at high levels. Neurons have evolved ways to protect themselves against the calcium influxes that come during periods of intense electrical activity. Neurology / Neuroscience Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167912.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167912.php Parkinson's disease, a debilitating movement disorder, is usually controlled by using drugs that compensate for a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Parkinson's patients have a deficit of this important chemical because of degeneration in an area of the brain stem where it is made -- a structure called the substantia nigra. Parkinson's Disease Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167777.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167777.php Neuroscience researchers from the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, are presenting a wide range of research topics at the Society for Neuroscience's 39th annual meeting in Chicago, Oct. 17-21, 2009. The information below is a representation of the neuroscience research Yerkes scientists will be discussing. Neurology / Neuroscience Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167698.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167698.php A team of researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Cincinnati have been awarded a $6.2 million Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson's disease grant. The grant, from the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health, makes MSU's College of Human Medicine a major player in research of the degenerative disease. Two new MSU researchers, Jack Lipton, Ph.D., and Caryl E. Sortwell, Ph.D. Parkinson's Disease Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167332.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167332.php Research has previously assumed that animals and plants developed different genetic programs for cell death. Now an international constellation of research teams, including one at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, has shown that parts of the genetic programs that determine programmed cell death in plants and animals are actually evolutionarily related and moreover function in a similar way. The findings were published in Nature Cell Biology. Genetics Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167214.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167214.php Researchers at Lund University, Sweden, have taken a snapshot of proteins changing shape, sticking together and creating structures that are believed to trigger deadly processes in the nervous system. The discovery opens the possibility of designing drugs for a devastating neurological disease, ALS. Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167173.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167173.php Parkinson disease progresses more slowly in patients who have higher levels of urate, a chemical that at very high level is associated with gout, scientists have found. While it's unknown whether the high levels actually somehow protect patients or simply serve as a marker of protection, the finding supports the idea that patients and doctors may one day be able to better predict the course of the illness. Parkinson's Disease Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167144.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167144.php Both genetic and pathologic data indicate a role for the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein in Parkinson disease. Previous studies have indicated that phosphorylation of alpha-synuclein at amino acid 129 (Ser129) is a key event in alpha-synuclein-mediated nerve cell toxicity. However, Mel Feany and colleagues, at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, have now identified a counterbalancing role in nerve cell protection for phosphorylation of alpha-synuclein amino acid 125 (Tyr125). Parkinson's Disease Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167071.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167071.php Higher concentration of urate (an antioxidant) in the blood and spinal fluid of patients with early Parkinson's disease is associated with slower rates of clinical decline, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the December print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Urate is an antioxidant that occurs naturally in the blood as an end product of normal metabolism. Parkinson's Disease Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166721.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166721.php Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified genes which may influence the onset age of Parkinson's Disease (PD). The findings, which currently appear on-line in BMC Medical Genetics, are the first to identify genes contributing to the variation in onset age and may help identify mechanisms and therapeutic targets capable of delaying symptoms. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder usually occurring late in life. Parkinson's Disease Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166537.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166537.php A Michigan hospital is embarking on a research study for advanced Parkinson's disease using a state-of-the-art treatment called gene transfer. The clinical trial will test whether gene transfer therapy is able to restore better mobility in Parkinson's patients who have lost responsiveness to drug therapy. Parkinson's Disease