Neurodegenerative Disorder News and Research

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New study describes various gene therapy strategies for treating Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and nonmotor deficits majorly caused by the loss of dopaminergic cells in the Substantia Nigra pars compacta as well as the destruction of nigrostriatal pathway.

28 Dec 2018

Experts in Parkinson's research propose roadmap for drug trials targeting alpha-synuclein

A recently discovered protein, alpha-synuclein, has become one of the most attractive targets for developing new drugs with the potential to slow down or arrest the progression of Parkinson's disease

20 Dec 2018

New compound blocks genetic cause of familial ALS and frontotemporal dementia

Since the ice bucket challenge went viral in 2014, raising awareness and funding for ALS research, scientists have learned much about a disease that disconnects muscles from nerves, leading to muscle atrophy and eventual death. Their ultimate goal is to create medications capable of stopping ALS in its tracks.

18 Dec 2018

Ezogabine treatment reduces motor neuron excitability in ALS patients, study shows

Brian Wainger, MD, PhD, of the Healey Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital presented initial, top-level results of a recently completed phase 2 clinical trial of ezogabine (also called retigabine) on December 9 at the Motor Neurone Disease Association annual meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

11 Dec 2018

New discovery confirms central importance of PINK1-Parkin pathway in Parkinson's patients

Researchers at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, make an unexpected and vital contribution to an international collaborative effort in Parkinson's disease research.

7 Nov 2018

C-Path, CHDI and CDISC announce availability of Huntington's Disease Therapeutic Area User Guide

The Huntington's Disease Regulatory Science Consortium, launched in March 2018 by the Critical Path Institute and CHDI Foundation, today, along with the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium, announce the open availability of a newly developed Huntington's Disease Therapeutic Area User Guide

2 Nov 2018

New form of therapy may stop or reverse progressive vision loss

A new form of therapy may halt or even reverse a form of progressive vision loss that, until now, has inevitably led to blindness.

1 Nov 2018

Modeling Alzheimer’s Disease Using Microfluidics

An interview with Dr. Joseph Park, the incorporation of astrocytes into the Alzheimer’s-in-a-dish culture system and it's applications in drug development.

24 Oct 2018

Scientists develop new class of compounds for treatment of progressive neurodegenerative disorder

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have developed a new class of compounds that extended the lives and eased symptoms of mice with a progressive neurodegenerative human disorder.

23 Oct 2018

Newly discovered compound shows potential for treating Parkinson's disease

A joint research group centered around Professor Hideyuki Okano and Associate Professor Jun Kohyama, Department of Physiology of the Keio University School of Medicine, together with a research group of Eisai Co., Ltd. has identified a compound that has the potential to be a treatment for Parkinson's disease by using dopaminergic neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from patients with familial Parkinson's disease.

19 Oct 2018

New transgenic mouse model sheds light on biological causes of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that presents clinically with abnormal movement and tremors at rest.

12 Oct 2018

Fruit fly protein shows protective effect on dopamine-producing neurons

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects dopamine-producing or dopaminergic neurons. The progressive loss of these neurons is what leads to impairment in movement coordination in those suffering from the illness.

3 Oct 2018

New drug to treat Parkinson's disease psychosis do not pose greater risk of death

In the wake of media and public reports about increased mortality linked to a new drug for treating Parkinson's disease psychosis -- a symptom of the progressive nervous system disorder in which patients experience hallucinations and delusions -- researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine conducted a retrospective study of qualifying patients in the UC San Diego Health system, concluding that the new drug, pimavanserin, did not pose a statistically significant greater risk of death.

27 Sep 2018

Olfactory cells could act as 'Trojan horse,' delivering anticancer therapy to dangerous brain tumors

A special type of cell essential to the ability of olfactory neurons to regenerate may be genetically engineered to deliver anticancer therapy to the dangerous brain tumors called glioblastomas.

27 Sep 2018

Researchers find molecule that halts, reverts neurodegeneration caused by Parkinson's disease

The small SynuClean-D molecule interrupts the formation of the alpha-synuclein amyloid fibers responsible for the onset of Parkinson's disease, and reverts the neurodegeneration caused by the disease.

25 Sep 2018

ADHD patients have increased risk of developing Parkinson's and other similar diseases

While about 11 percent of children (4-17 years old) nationwide have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, the long-term health effects of having ADHD and of common ADHD medications remains understudied.

12 Sep 2018

Marmosets can mimic both motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Small, New World monkeys called marmosets can mimic the sleep disturbances, changes in circadian rhythm, and cognitive impairment people with Parkinson's disease develop, according to a new study by scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute.

6 Sep 2018

OHSU researchers discover disease in monkeys that mimics childhood neurodegenerative disorder

OHSU scientists have discovered a naturally occurring disease in monkeys that mimics a deadly childhood neurodegenerative disorder in people - a finding that holds promise for developing new gene therapies to treat Batten disease.

27 Jul 2018

Scientists take important step to understand mechanisms that cause Huntington's disease

The neuroscientist Dr David Vilchez and his team at CECAD, the University of Cologne's Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research, have made an important step towards understanding the mechanisms that cause the neurodegenerative disorder Huntington's disease.