17th November 2013 - New research

FUNGAL CAUSE OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA [2013] Nov 11 [Epub ahead of print] (A.A.Inamdar, M.M.Hossain, A.I.Bernstein, G.W.Miller, J.R.Richardson, J.W.Bennett) Complete abstract

Octenol (1-octen-3-ol), which is commonly known as mushroom alcohol,,is produced by several plants and fungi. For information go too Octenol. In Drosophila melanogaster (the common fruit fly) Octenol reduces the levels of dopamine, the substance whose deficiency causes Parkinson's Disease.

Although it has not yet conclusively been proven to have caused Parkinson's Disease in humans, further experiments in human cells revealed that Octenol interfered with two genes involved in the creation of dopamine - the human plasma membrane dopamine transporter (DAT) and the human VMAT ortholog (VMAT2). This demonstrates that 1-octen-3-ol exerts toxicity via disruption of dopamine homeostasis and so may represent a naturally occurring cause of Parkinsonism. Octenol can often be inhaled by humans after being produced in damp, mouldy or water damaged buildings. In order to refer to this article on its own click here.  

16th Novemberr 2013- New book

PARKINSON'S DISEASE : A COMPLETE GUIDE FOR PATIENTS AND FAMILIES

 William J.Weiner, Lisa M.Shulman, Anthony E.Lang

Publisher's description :  Patients and families have long relied on this book for reliable advice about medical, emotional, and physical issues. Bringing this guide up to date, three expert neurologists describe : New understandings gained by five years of additional research on Parkinson’s disease, a new focus on exercise, imaging techniques such as SPECT Scan and DATScan that are aiding in diagnosis, new findings about the genetics, promising uses of new technologies such as tablet devices for people who have trouble communicating, information about impulse control disorders caused by some drugs used to address the symptoms of the disease, A complete update on treatments. Click here for more details. For more books concerning Parkinson's Disease go to Parkinson's Disease Books.  

12th November 2013 - New research

NEW DRUG FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE PSYCHOSIS

Lancet [2013] Oct 31 [Epub ahead of print] (J.Cummings, S.Isaacson, R.Mills, H.Williams, K.Chi-Burris, A.Corbett, R.Dhall, C.Ballard) Complete abstract

Parkinson's Disease psychosis, which includes hallucinations and delusions, is frequent and debilitating in some people with Parkinson's Disease. Pimavanserin, which is a serotonin 5-HT2A inverse agonist that is presently being assessed, aims to treat Parkinson's Disease psychosis. A clinical trial assessed the effect of Pimavanserin.  

They took 40mg pimavanserin per day. The primary measure was the antipsychotic benefit using the Parkinson's disease-adapted scale for assessment of positive symptoms (SAPS-PD). According to the Parkinson's disease-adapted scale for assessment of positive symptoms (SAPS-PD) those people taking pimavanserin reduced their score by 5.79 compared with a reduction of 2.73 by those taking a placebo. Over 10% of the patients discontinued because of an adverse event. However, in previous clinical trials there was either no effect Complete abstract, or it was beneficial for some but not all measures of psychosis Complete abstract. In order to refer to this article on its own click here.  

10th November 2013 - New research

THE PREVALENCE OF HEADACHES IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Neurological Sciences [2013] Nov 7 [Epub ahead of print]]  Complete abstract

Researchers assessed the prevalence of headache in people with Parkinson's Disease and the association between the side of Parkinon's Disease symptom onset and the side of their headache. Headaches were found to occur significantly less in people with Parkinson's Disease, 40% of whom had headaches, than in people who do not have Parkinson's Disease, 70% of whom had headaches.   The prevalence of headaches being significantly lower in people with Parkinon's Disease is unexplained by the researchers.

Fewer people with Parkinson's Disease (74%) had headaches throughout life in contrast to the 94% of people who had headaches throughout life who did not have Parkinson's Disease.  Considering only people who had headaches during the previous year, people with Parkinson's Disease had a higher association with migraine rather than tension headaches compared to people who did not have Parkinson's Disease. The headache side in people with Parkinson's Disease was also on the same side as the side of Parkinson's Disease onset in 84 % of people.   In order to refer to this article on its own click here.  

6th November 2013 - New research

THE CAUSES OF FALLS IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Neurologia i neurochirurgia polska [2013] 47 (5) : 423-430 (Rudzinska M, Bukowczan S, Stozek J, Zajdel K, Mirek E, Chwala W, Wójcik-Pedziwiatr M, Banaszkiewicz K, Szczudlik A.)   Complete abstract

Neurologia i neurochirurgia polska [2013] 47 (5) : 431-437 (Rudzinska M, Bukowczan S, Stozek J, Zajdel K, Mirek E, Chwala W, Wójcik-Pedziwiatr M, Banaszkiewicz K, Szczudlik A.)   Complete abstract

People with Parkinson's Disease suffer falls more frequently than most other people. Over the year falls occurred in 54% of people with Parkinson's Disease. Around 20% of people with Parkinson's Disease fell frequently. This occurred more commonly with age.

Analysis of causes of falls revealed that sudden falls were the most common (31%), followed by episodes of freezing and festination (19%), neurological and sensory disturbances (mostly vertigo) (12%), environmental factors (12%), postural instability (11%), orthostatic hypotension (4%), and severe dyskinesia (3.6%). In people with Parkinson's Disease, factors due to themselves were dominant, whereas in the control group external factors were responsible for falls with the same frequency. Every third fall intensified the fear of walking. Over a third (34%) of falls caused injuries. Among them bruises of body parts other than the head were most frequent.  In order to refer to this article on its own click here.