Parkinsons

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the green light to an Apple Watch app to monitor Parkinson’s disease, developed by San Francisco-based startup Rune Labs. As reported by Reuters, the Apple Watch’s pre-existing sensors can already detect falls, tremors, and other movement disorders consistent with symptoms of Parkinson’s. But Rune Labs has taken things a step further with its app, gathering individual data on the symptoms patients experience so that it can be shared with doctors to determine the…

Software that helps people with Parkinson’s disease track symptoms through their Apple Watch received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration, the company behind the tool announced today. It automatically tracks things like tremors, and it lets patients report symptoms and medication usage. Neurology company Rune Labs built the software, called StrivePD. It lets clinicians track their patients’ progress and any changes in symptoms from the neurological disorder, which causes involuntary movements and…

A graphic depicts the “two faces of alpha-synuclein” and the transition from normal states (upper, organized molecular machines on a well-defined grid) to pathologic states in which there is membrane disruption, altered protein interactions, and localization (lower, chaotic, disrupted machines, darker tone). Credit: Artwork by Gergana PetrovaResearchers have uncovered a new function for alpha-synuclein, a well-known protein marker of Parkinson’s, with relevance toward treatment for the disease.When many people think of…

Researchers have been studying the symptoms of Parkinson's disease for a long time. This degenerative neurological disorder affects a person's sensory-motor functions including thinking, mood and memory. Loss of control over body movements and tremors in limbs are other signs of the disease. A recent study on old men shows that the symptoms of Parkinson's disease can be identified early in life. According to experts, frequent nightmares can be an early sign of Parkinson's disease. Association between distressing dreams…

An experimental drug is raising new hopes for those with Parkinson’s disease. So far, the compound has only been tested in animals and in an initial safety assessment in humans. But results show it inhibits a cellular pathway that gives rise to the disease, which researchers have been working to target for nearly 20 years. Investigators are now launching expanded clinical trials. “This is a very, very important step forward,” says Patrick Lewis, a neuroscientist who studies the…

The development of nightmares later in life could be an early sign of Parkinson's disease, according to new research in older men.Distressing dreams have long been associated with the neurological disease, especially among men, but this is the first study to investigate whether these symptoms are a warning of Parkinson's or a byproduct of the condition.  Tracking the health of 3,818 older men with typical brain functioning for 12 years, researchers found those who experienced frequent nightmares were twice as likely to…

Addressing the shortage of dopamine that characterizes Parkinson's disease is a key objective of treatments old and new, but monitoring levels of the neurotransmitter that result from these interventions can be a tricky undertaking. Scientists have developed a promising new tool for this task described as a "fluorescent nanosensor paint," which glows brightly in the presence of dopamine to reveal its concentrations and spread in the brain.The decline in dopamine production seen in Parkinson's is linked to the onset of…

With no way of completely curing the condition, earlier diagnosis of Parkinson's disease can have profound impacts on treatment options and a patient's quality of life. Scientists are making inroads when it comes to picking up the tell-tale signs of the disease's onset, and a new first-of-a-kind study has demonstrated how these might be revealed through an inexpensive blood test that has shown a high degree of accuracy in early trials.Doctors will currently diagnose Parkinson's disease by making an assessment of a…

A few years after the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic doctors around the world began to notice an increase in new Parkinson’s disease cases. This link between viral infection and increased Parkinson’s risk has been an ongoing mystery to scientists for well over a century. And the association isn’t just limited to the H1N1 influenza virus behind the 1918 pandemic. A variety of other viral infections have been linked to increased Parkinson’s risk, from Japanese encephalitis to HIV.Early in 2020, as the novel coronavirus…

According to neuroscientists, new research suggests that a specific gene commonly associated with Parkinson’s may be behind vocal-related symptoms that are typical of the disease. This finding could help lead to earlier diagnoses and treatments for Parkinson’s patients.Neuroscientists found that higher levels of the alpha-synuclein protein in the brain can lead to changes in vocal production.Parkinson’s disease is likely best known for its movement-related symptoms, particularly tremors and stiffness.However, the disease…