Michigan State University scientists now have early proof that an antidepressant drug that’s been around for more than 50 years could slow the progression of Parkinson’s. In a proof-of-concept study, published in the journal Neurobiology of Disease, the drug nortriptyline, which has been used to treat depression and nerve pain, stopped the growth of abnormal proteins that can...
Tag: <span>parkinsons</span>
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Parkinson’s: Asthma drugs may cut risk by a third
A research team from the University of Bergen in Norway, in collaboration with scientists at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, examined the effect of 1,000 different medications to see which ones may lower or increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease. The first author of the study is Shuchi Mittal, of Harvard Medical School, and the findings were...
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Monkeys with Parkinson’s disease benefit from human stem cells
Monkeys show reduced Parkinsonian symptoms following a donor-matched iPS cell-based therapy. One of the last steps before treating patients with an experimental cell therapy for the brain is confirmation that the therapy works in monkeys. Today, scientists at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, Japan, report monkeys with Parkinson’s...
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New technology to manipulate cells could help treat Parkinson’s, arthritis, other diseases
A groundbreaking advancement in materials from Northwestern University could potentially help patients requiring stem cell therapies for spinal cord injuries, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritic joints or any other condition requiring tissue regeneration, according to a new study. “It’s important in the context of cell therapies for people to cure these diseases or regenerate...
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People with Parkinson’s should be monitored for melanoma, study finds
People with the movement disorder Parkinson’s disease have a much higher risk of the skin cancer melanoma, and vice versa, a Mayo Clinic study finds. While further research is needed into the connection, physicians treating one disease should be vigilant for signs of the other and counsel those patients about risk, the authors say. The...
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Drug discovery: Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s spurred by same enzyme
Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are not the same. They affect different regions of the brain and have distinct genetic and environmental risk factors. But at the biochemical level, these two neurodegenerative diseases start to look similar. That’s how Emory scientists led by Keqiang Ye, PhD, landed on a potential drug target for Parkinson’s. In...
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More evidence Parkinson’s starts in the gut: Removing a section of digestive tract nerve lowers your risk by 40%, study claims
A new study provides more evidence that Parkinson’s disease starts in the gut Scientists studied patients who had vagotomies – a removal of part of a nerve which extends from the brainstem to the abdomen Those who had the trunk removed were 40% less likely to develop the disease More evidence has emerged suggesting that...
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Eye movements could help in diagnosing Parkinson’s disease
The way people with Parkinson’s disease make use of their eyes to complete simple tasks in both the real world and working at computers is being investigated by neuroscientists and the findings could help in early diagnosis and improve their life’s quality. Neuroscientists at the University of Lincoln have been investigating markers specific to Parkinson’s,...
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Mighty morphed brain cells cure Parkinson’s in mice, but human trials still far off
Using a trick from stem-cell science, researchers got mice with a version of Parkinson’s disease to walk almost normally. Mice that walk straight and fluidly don’t usually make scientists exult, but these did: The lab rodents all had a mouse version of Parkinson’s disease and only weeks before had barely been able to lurch and...
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Your Brain cells could be Reprogrammed to Fight Parkinson’s Disease
In Brief Researchers have reprogrammed existing brain cells in mice into dopamine neurons to reduce their symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. This novel approach could be used to treat Parkinson’s disease with stem cells which are not transplanted but induced from patients’ own brain cells. Support cells turned super cells Parkinson’s disease is one of the...