Parkinson's Disease News and Research

Latest Parkinson's Disease News and Research

Binding up iron in the brain to combat Parkinson's and Alzheimer's

Duke University chemists are developing ways to bind up iron in the brain to combat the neurological devastation of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

24 Aug 2007

Cannabis for allergic contact dermatitis

Administering a substance found in the cannabis plant can help the body's natural protective system alleviate an allergic skin disease (allergic contact dermatitis), an international group of researchers from Germany, Israel, Italy, Switzerland and the U.S. has found.

17 Aug 2007

New insight into fragile X tremor/ataxia syndrome

Researchers have reported new insight into the pathology underlying a recently identified neurological disorder that strikes middle-aged adults that is caused by alterations in the same gene that causes fragile X syndrome.

17 Aug 2007

Methamphetamine use has long-term behavioral consequences

Young adults who use methamphetamine may be more vulnerable to age-related brain degeneration when they grow older, new animal research suggests.

16 Aug 2007

Connection between reduced glutathione and heart failure

Antioxidants are widely considered an important defense against heart disease, but University of Utah researchers have found excessive levels of one antioxidant - reduced glutathione - actually may contribute to the disease.

12 Aug 2007

Scientists produce functioning neurons from human embryonic stem cells

Scientists with the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA were able to produce from human embryonic stem cells a highly pure, large quantity of functioning neurons that will allow them to create models of and study diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, prefrontal dementia and schizophrenia.

8 Aug 2007

Overexposure to metals and Alzheimer's disease

A multi-institutional team of researchers led by Emory University has defined for the first time how metal ions bind to amyloid fibrils in the brain in a way that appears toxic to neurons.

7 Aug 2007

Caffeine may help older women protect their thinking skills

Caffeine may help older women protect their thinking skills, according to a study published in the August 7, 2007, issue of Neurology ®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

7 Aug 2007

Deep brain stimulation a miracle for man with severe brain injury

In what must seem to his family to be a miracle, a man who had been in a near-vegetative state for six years has regained the ability to use words and gestures, chew and swallow and drink from a cup.

1 Aug 2007

donepezil improves symptoms of severe Alzheimer's

A drug initially used to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease improved the memory and global function of people with severe Alzheimer's disease and was safe and effective, according to a study published in the July 31, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

1 Aug 2007

New findings on how brain processes visual information

Neuroscientists have long believed that vision is processed in the brain along circuits made up of neurons, similar to the way telephone signals are transferred through separate wires from one station to another.

31 Jul 2007

Electronics that interface with biological systems

Imagine a chip, strategically placed in the brain, that could prevent epileptic seizures or allow someone who has lost a limb to control an artificial arm just by thinking about it.

26 Jul 2007

Sun exposure during childhood may lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis

People who spent more time in the sun as children may have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) than people who had less sun exposure during childhood, according to a study published in the July 24, 2007, issue of Neurology ®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 Jul 2007

People with writer's cramp have less grey matter in three areas of the brain

People with serious cases of writer's cramp have brain abnormalities, according to a study published in the July 24, 2007, issue of Neurology ®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 Jul 2007

Research to look at reasons for the formation of Lewy bodies

A University of Nottingham researcher has been awarded more than £440,000 by the Parkinson’s Disease Society (PDS) to investigate the causes of the condition.

23 Jul 2007

Protein pulling advances in protein folding science

Rice University physicists have unveiled an innovative way of finding out how proteins get their shape based on how they unfold when pulled apart.

20 Jul 2007

RNA essential for survival of mature neurons

There are lots of things that brain cells need to survive. Add to that list microRNAs.

19 Jul 2007

Older women with memory problems at higher risk of sleep disorders

Older women experiencing memory loss are more likely than women without cognitive decline to have problems falling asleep and staying asleep, according to a study published in the July 17, 2007, issue of Neurology ®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Jul 2007

Parkinson's and manganese air pollution link

A University of Toronto study is the first in North America to draw a link between Parkinson's and manganese air pollution, and suggests industry-generated pollutants poses a greater health risk than traffic-generated manganese.

17 Jul 2007

How children with brain tumors perform at school

While children who have had brain tumors perform worse in school than healthy kids, grades in foreign language are the most affected and girls have a harder time than boys in getting good grades, according to a study published in the July 17, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Jul 2007