Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting the motor system, leading to characteristic symptoms such as tremors, rigidity, slowness of movement (bradykinesia), and postural instability. In Parkinson’s Disease, there is destruction of dopamine-producing brain cells in the substantia nigra region. This region is involved in coordinating movement. The onset of Parkinson’s is generally gradual, and the disease progresses over the years, significantly impacting the quality of life. Non-motor symptoms like sleep disturbances, depression, and cognitive changes can also occur. It is not fully understood what causes neuronal loss in Parkinson’s disease, but it is believed to be a combination of factors, including environmental and genetic. Some research also points towards the role of gut microbiome. Currently, there is no cure, but treatments, including medication, such as levodopa, and surgical interventions like deep brain stimulation, are available to manage symptoms. Ongoing research continues to seek a better understanding and more effective treatments for this challenging condition.
Parkinson’s Disease
Latest Posts
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Soft Robotic Apparel Aids Parkinson’s Patients with Freezing of Gait
Innovative research by a team from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Boston University Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences developed a soft, wearable robotic apparel worn around the…
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NeuralTree: closed-loop neuromodulation system-on-chip
Researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have developed NeuralTree, a closed-loop neuromodulation system-on-chip that detects and alleviates disease symptoms. It uses a 256-channel high-resolution sensing array and an energy-efficient machine-learning processor to extract and classify biomarkers…
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Role of calcium in Parkinson’s disease
The international team, led by the University of Cambridge found that excess levels of calcium in brain cells may lead to the formation of toxic clusters that are the hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. Their research found that…
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Cortisol and Parkinson’s Disease
Research team from Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute Of Science And Technology (DGIST) has performed a high-throughput screening method to identify drug candidates that promote dopaminergic neuronal cell activation by inducing the expression of the parkin protein, the cell…
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Squalamine shows promise as potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease in lab studies
A naturally-occurring compound has been found to block a molecular process thought to underlie Parkinson’s Disease and to suppress its toxic products, scientists have reported. The findings, although only preliminary, suggest that the compound, called squalamine, could…
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Combating Aging by removing damaged mitochondrial DNA
Researchers from UCLA and Caltech have made discoveries that might help slow and potentially reverse the process of aging in cells. They generated new methods that allow identification of factors that selectively remove damaged mitochondrial DNA, which…
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Parkinson disease treatment break through – using stem cells to develop dopaminergic neurons.
The first transplantation of stem cells in patients with Parkinson’s disease is almost within reach. However, it remains a challenge for researchers to control stem cells accurately in the lab in order to achieve successful and functional…
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Study demonstrates role of gut bacteria in neurodegenerative diseases
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) are all characterized by clumped, misfolded proteins and inflammation in the brain. In more than 90 percent of cases, physicians and scientists do not know what…
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