Dosing Begins In Phase 2a Trial Of Oral Treatment To Aid Cognition
Patient dosing has begun in a Phase 2a clinical trial testing oral CST-2032 in combination with CST-107 as a potential way to ease the symptoms of mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia due to Parkinsons or Alzheimers disease, the company developing these therapies, CuraSen Therapeutics, announced. The trial (
Mickan Against Parkinsons Gala Dinner 2019
At The Mickan against Parkinsons Adelaide, SA. Congratulations to Ms.Nassaris and the team at Adelaide Oval for putting this together .Thanks for inviting Mr Girish Nair as a speaker for the event to speak about his involvement in Mr. Mickans care as a treating Neurosurgeon
Thanks for having Neuroaxis at this event celebrating a true Champion in footy and in the fight against Parkinsons. We are proud to be part of Marks Parkinson journey.
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Exercise May Improve Outcomes
Researchers continue to find evidence that exercise is helpful in Parkinsons disease. Exercise induces the production of neurotrophic factors, reduces oxidative stress, decreases neuroinflammation, and improves cerebral blood flow. For these reasons, exercise might provide neuroprotection.
Improvements in activity-monitoring technology have made tracking activity easier and data collection quicker. Also, sample sizes required for exercise studies have decreased.
The National Parkinsons Foundation is sponsoring the Parkinsons Outcome Project, a longitudinal registry that collects outcomes data on 9,000 international participants annually. Early in the course of this , it became clear that patients who exercised did better, said Dr. Davis. Whether exercise caused improved outcomes was uncertain, however. Physicians have begun encouraging the sedentary study participants to exercise, and the rate of decline has slowed for the patients who began exercising.
We do not have enough information now to give people exercise prescriptions, said Dr. Davis. But activity in general is so much better than inactivity that we just tell patients to find something that they like and do it.
Erik Greb
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Latest Treatments For Parkinsons Disease
Researchers still have much to learn about Parkinsons disease. As researchers continue to work hard in the fight against this disease, the lessons they learn may lead to new, innovative treatments.
Parkinsons disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra area of the brain, advises the Parkinsons Foundation. Even though the disease itself is not fatal, PD is a serious condition one which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rates as the 14th most common cause of death in the United States due to the diseases related complications.
PD symptoms affect autonomous functions and the ability to move limbs. The Mayo Clinic notes that most people with PD may show little or no expression, speech may become slurred, arms may not swing when one walks, and stiffness and gait issues may become apparent. PD can affect balance and posture as well.
There is no cure for PD, but there are many different treatments that can slow its progress and reduce symptoms.
WebMD says new treatments for PD give individuals continued hope. Heres a look at some of the potential options.
Stem cell usagetem cells can turn into any type of cell, and there is hope that they can transform into the dopamine-producing neurons used to treat PD. But there is increased risk of involuntary movement from too much dopamine with this treatment. Stem cell therapy also may present ethical and moral issues with some patients.
Signal Contributor
Common Scale Of Motor Symptom Severity May Have Flaws: Study
A commonly used measure of how motor symptoms are affecting daily life could also for people in early stages of Parkinsons disease be taking into account the contribution of their non-motor symptoms, a study suggests. This is a likely reason for the discrepancies seen in evaluations made by patients
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Parkinsons Protein Blueprint Could Help Fast
Researchers have solved a decade-long mystery about a critical protein linked to Parkinsons disease that could help to fast-track treatments for the incurable disease.
The research, published in Nature, has for the first time produced a live action view of the protein, called PINK1, in exquisite molecular detail.
The discovery explains how the protein is activated in the cell, where it is responsible for initiating the removal and replacement of damaged mitochondria. When the protein is not working correctly, it can starve brain cells of energy, causing them to malfunction and in the long term die, as happens to dopamine-producing cells in Parkinsons disease.
The discovery is the culmination of a project spanning eight years and provides the first detailed blueprint for the discovery and development of therapeutic agents that could help to slow or even stop the progression of Parkinsons disease.
Led by PhD student Mr Zhong Yan Gan and Professor David Komander, the multidisciplinary team at WEHI used innovative cryo-electron microscopy facilities and research to make the discovery.
Parkinsons Disease Gets Diagnostic Help From Artificial Intelligence
Parkinsons Disease is one of several degenerative diseases in our neurologic system. It has a celebrity patient, Michael J Fox. Still, with a million patients living with the disease in the US and sixty thousand new diagnoses annually it lacks a biomarker to aid in early detection. An artificial intelligence program looking at nocturnal breathing may change that and, ultimately, how we care for these patients.
Parkinsons Disease is diagnosed by a cluster of symptoms related to its effect on motor nerves. There is no lab test or imaging study that makes the diagnosis. As a result, it often takes some time for a vague symptom to become so well established that a physician can identify it. Consequentially, the ability to make an early diagnosis is difficult. And because the disease is characterized by its symptoms, it is difficult for a physician to track PDs progress. After all, can you objectively say there is more weakness or a greater tremor based on subjective physical examinations months apart?
The current study used an artificial intelligence methodology to analyze the breathing patterns during sleep of roughly 7,600 patients and predicted the presence or development of PD in 90% of cases. But before jumping into the particulars of the study, a bit of background on PD.
Parkinsons Disease a bit of context
The Study
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Parkinsons Disease And Loss Of Identity
Dr. C, who uses this pseudonym as a columnist for Parkinsons News Today, struggled with a loss of identity after being diagnosed with Parkinsons disease.
The me that I was so familiar with is gone, and Im left uncomfortable in my own skin, Dr. C wrote in a June 10 article for Parkinsons News Today. All this has led to a loss of identity.
Dr. C, however, had a breakthrough when he discovered that Parkinsons produces changes in the brain that results in changes in personality. To support his discovery, Dr. C cited a statement from the American Parkinsons Disease Association, which says: A substantial part of our personality relies on our brain function, it is not a stretch of logic to ask if a changing brain produces a changing personality.
After spending at least seven years walking around, bouncing off walls, and dragging and catching my feet on even surfaces, Dr. C has now embraced his new identity.
Self is now Parkinsons, and I am cautiously, mindfully, moving within that world, Dr. C writes. The old self is dead. Long live the new self.
Exercise Hormone Halts Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms In Mouse Study
- Date:
- Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Summary:
- Researchers have shown that a hormone secreted into the blood during endurance, or aerobic, exercise reduces levels of a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease and halts movement problems in mice.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston have shown that a hormone secreted into the blood during endurance, or aerobic, exercise reduces levels of a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease and halts movement problems in mice.
Parkinson’s disease, a neurologic condition that causes people to lose control over their muscles and movements, affects about 1 million people in the U.S.
If confirmed in additional laboratory research and clinical trials, the researchers’ study in mice engineered to have Parkinson’s disease symptoms could pave the way for a Parkinson’s disease therapy based on the hormone irisin.
Results of the researchers’ tests appeared Aug. 31 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Ted Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., and Dana Farber’s Bruce Spiegelman, Ph.D., worked together to look into the link between the exercise molecule irisin and Parkinson’s disease.
In the past decade, other laboratories have found that exercise elevates levels of irisin, and there is interest in looking into the connection between irisin and Alzheimer’s disease as well as Parkinson’s disease.
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Turning Off The Switch
Parkinsons disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by the death of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. More than 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinsons disease, including more than 80,000 Australians.
Currently there are no approved drugs that can slow or stop the progression of Parkinsons disease, with available therapies only able to treat and alleviate symptoms.
PhD student and first author Zhong Yan Gan said the research provided an unprecedented view of a protein called PINK1, known to play a critical role in early onset Parkinsons disease.
Many papers from laboratories around the world including ours have captured snapshots of the PINK1 protein. However, the differences in these snapshots has in some ways fuelled confusion about the protein and its structure, Mr Gan said.
What we have been able to do is to take a series of snapshots of the protein ourselves and stitch them together to make a live action movie that reveals the entire activation process of PINK1. We were then able to reconcile why all these previous structural images were different they were snapshots taken at different moments in time as this protein was activated to perform its function in the cell.
A molecule that shows promise in preventing Parkinsons disease has been refined by scientists at the University of Bath in the UK, and has the potential to be developed into a drug to treat the deadly neurodegenerative disease.
Explore further
Promising New Medication For Parkinsons
NLX-112 has shown promising results in the lab for reducing dyskinesia caused by the medication Levodopa, which is a common and distressing side effect of current Parkinsons medications. Dyskinesia causes involuntary movements that can affect various parts of the body, making simple, everyday tasks like tying your shoelaces difficult.
The clinical trial aims to assess whether NLX-112 is safe and well-tolerated by people suffering from Parkinsons who also experience dyskinesia. It will also analyse how the drug can reduce dyskinesia and other non-motor symptoms such as depression and disturbed sleep.
Adrian Newman-Tancredi, PhD, DSc, Chief Executive Officer of Neurolixis, commented: We are delighted that this important trial is now underway, and the first participant has been recruited. The pandemic has made getting to this point more challenging and time-consuming than wed hoped, but were now keen to make up for lost time. If recruitment to the study progresses smoothly, we are hopeful that we will have results to share by late 2022.
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Latest Research On Covid
UPDATE: This post has been updated with the latest information available.We will continue to keep this post up-to-date as new information develops.
As citizens of the world, we all continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. And as members of the Parkinsons disease community, we continue to have specific concerns about COVID-19 and how it relates to PD. There is so much information out there, some of it misinformation, so it is important to rely on credible, trusted sources. In this post, I will cover the latest information that investigates the relationship between PD and COVID-19.
Current Parkinsons Treatments Cant Slow Down Onset Of Disease
Parkinsons is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, which mainly the area of the brain that controls movement leading to a slow onset of symptoms including tremors, rigidity and slow movement.
More than 10 million people worldwide are estimated to be living with Parkinsons disease, according to the US-based Parkinsons Foundation, with the Parkinsons News Today website saying it affects 1,900 per 100,000 among those aged over 80,
Typically, by the time people are diagnosed with the condition, they have already lost between 70% and 80% of their dopamine-producing cells, which are involved in co-ordinating movement.
While current treatments mask the symptoms, there is nothing that can slow down its progression or prevent more brain cells from being lost.
As dopamine levels continue to fall, symptoms get worse and new symptoms can appear.
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New Medications For Off Time
A number of new medications approved recently are designed to reduce OFF time. These medications fall into two major categories:
- Medications that lengthen the effect of a carbidopa/levodopa dose
- Medications that are used as needed if medication effects wear off
Well give specific examples below. In general, new medications that extend the length of a carbidopa/levodopa dose are used if OFF time is somewhat predictable and occurs prior to next dose. New medications that are used as needed are most beneficial when OFF time is not predictable.
New medications that lengthen the effect of a dose of carbidopa/levodopa
- Istradefylline is an adenosine A2A receptor antagonist which was approved in the US in 2019 as an add-on therapy to levodopa for treatment of OFF time in PD. Unlike many of the other medications, it has a novel mechanism of action and is the first medication in its class to be approved for PD. It acts on the adenosine receptor, which modulates the dopaminergic system, but is not directly dopaminergic. The drug was developed in Japan and underwent clinical trials both in Japan and in the US.
- Opicapone is a catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor that is taken once a day. It was approved in the US in 2020 as an add-on therapy to levodopa for motor fluctuations.
New formulations of levodopa designed to be used as needed if medication effects wear off
Other medications used as needed if medication effects wear off
Good News Bad News On Levodopa For Parkinson’s Disease
A new study has concluded that the most potent drug available for Parkinson’s disease, Levodopa, treats symptoms of the disease but does nothing to either ease or increase its still-mysterious underlying causes. There’s disappointment here as well. While levodopa isn’t toxic, it also doesn’t appear to provide any protection against progression of Parkinson’s in the brain, said Susan Bressman, MD, Co-Director of the Mount Sinai Parkinson and Movement Disorders Center. “The bottom line is they couldn’t show neuroprotection. Using this very normal dose we normally use, they couldn’t show it slows the progression of the disease.” Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder. One of its hallmarks is the loss of neurons that produce a brain chemical called dopamine. “Most people don’t start Levodopa at first diagnosis, when they have hardly any symptoms, because they don’t need it. We don’t think the drug is protecting the brain, so we don’t start it right away, because it’s not going to change what they’re going to look like 10 years down the pike,” said Dr. Bressman.
Susan Bressman, MD, Co-Director of the Mount Sinai Parkinson and Movement Disorders Center, Site Chair, Professor, Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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Is Parkinsons Disease Treated By A Neurologist
People with Parkinsons disease will usually require a team of healthcare professionals to help them manage the condition.
A neurologist, a doctor specializing in conditions of the brain and nervous system, will be one of the main people involved in treating Parkinsons.
Other healthcare professionals who may help treat Parkinsons can include:
- a persons regular doctor
- a physical therapist
- a speech or occupational therapist
- mental health professional
- other specialists, such as a gastroenterologist, if people experience other symptoms of Parkinsons such as digestive issues
New Apple Watch App Collects Parkinsons Disease Symptoms
Rune Labs, a precision neurology company based in San Francisco, was granted clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use its StrivePD app to collect Parkinsons disease symptom data through measurements recorded by an Apple Watch.
Aura Oslapas, a member of Runes Patient Advisory Board, drew from her first-hand experience with Parkinsons in helping Rune develop the StrivePD mobile app.
When people with Parkinsons are prescribed new medications, adjusting how much to take and when to take it until they find something that works can be a lengthy process, Oslapas said in a press release. StrivePD helps people to track their symptoms and improvements, accelerating the time to an optimal medication schedule.
StrivePD uses Apple Watchs built-in motion sensor that can detect when a person falls. In addition, the software draws data directly from Apples Movement Disorder API, which measures and records tremors and dyskinetic symptoms common in patients with Parkinsons disease.
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Scientists Homing In On A Cure For Parkinsons Disease
The new peptide shows promise as a drug precursor to treat Parkinsons disease, often known for its distinctive hand tremors.
A peptide known to prevent the protein error that gives rise to Parkinsons disease has been optimized by scientists, making it a strong candidate for future development into a cure.
Parkinsons disease is characterized by a specific protein in human cells misfolding, where it becomes aggregated and malfunctions. The protein alpha-synuclein is abundant in all human brains. After misfolding, it accumulates in large masses, known as Lewy bodies. These masses consist of S aggregates that are toxic to dopamine-producing brain cells, causing them to die. It is this drop in dopamine signaling that triggers the symptoms of Parkinsons, as the signals transmitting from the brain to the body become noisy, leading to the distinctive tremors seen in sufferers.
Dr. Richard Meade. Credit: University of Bath
Previous efforts to target and detoxifyS-induced neurodegeneration have seen scientists analyze a vast library of peptides to find the best candidate for preventing S misfolding. Of the 209,952 peptides screened in earlier work by scientists at Bath, peptide 4554W showed the most promise, inhibiting S from aggregating into toxic disease forms in lab experiments, both in solutions and on live cells.
Professor Jody Mason. Credit: University of Bath