NEW DRUG FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE PSYCHOSIS

2th November 2013 - New research

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)

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 or it was beneficial for some but not all measures of psychosis

THE PREVALENCE OF HEADACHES IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

0th November 2013 - New research

Neurological Sciences [2013] Nov 7 [Epub ahead of print]  
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.

THE CAUSES OF FALLS IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

6th November 2013 - New research

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.) 
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.) 

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. 

SENSORY PEN FOR DETECTING PARKINSON'S DISEASE

1st October 2013 - News release

A means of diagnosing Parkinson’s Disease is being developed by MANUS Neurodynamica using sensory pen technology. It is called the DiPAR project. The system, combining sensor and computing technology, requires the patient to perform a set of writing tasks, drawing activities or a combination of both. The system records all movements of the pen as well as other parameters such as drawing pressure, plus acceleration and deceleration of movement, to identify patterns that are indicative of specific kinds of neuromotor disorder. The sensory pen can be used by non-specialists with minimal training so that large numbers of people would be able to be screened.

The system’s software records key features regarding the movement of the pen, relating it to the motion of the limb, particularly the role of the hand and fingers in coordinating overall pen motion. The recordings enable the operator to assess akinesia, bradykinesia, tremor, rigidity and other signs of motor deterioration that cannot be easily detected by other means. The software takes inputs from a variety of sensors in the pen and converts them, using proprietary algorithms, into outcome percentages that represent the likelihood of the presence of Parkinson's Disease or other neuromotor disorders.

DEPRESSION TREBLES THE RISK OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE

3rd October 2013 - New research

Neurology [2013] Oct 2 [Epub ahead of print] (Cheng-Che Shen, Shih-Jen Tsai, Chin-Lin Perng, Benjamin Ing-Tiau Kuo, Albert C.Yang)

In the largest study of its kind, involving more than 23,000 subjects, people who had depression were found to have more than three times the chance of developing Parkinson's Disease. This suggests that depression is a strong indication of future Parkinson's Disease, even beyond that of other early indicators.
Parkinson's Disease is primarily due to the insufficient formation of dopamine in the brain, in the dopaminergic neurons. Besides affecting muscle function and therefore the characteristic muscular symptoms of Parkinson's Disease such as as rigidity and tremor, dopamine insuffiency also affects the emotions.

This is why dopamine insufficiency can also lead to depression. However, even biochemically, dopamine is not the only factor involved in depression, which is why depresssion and Parkinson's Disease do not always coincide. Therefore, depression, even when severe, does not inevitably lead to Parkinson's Disease and why it is possible to have Parkinson's Disease without also having depression.

UNDERSTANDING PARKINSON'S DISEASE : AN INTRODUCTION FOR PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS

3rd October 2013- New book

Naheed Ali

Publisher's description :  Understanding Parkinson’s Disease offers patients and their caregivers the kind of cutting-edge information that will allow them to successfully confront this debilitating disease on a number of fronts. Patients will also be uniquely exposed to alternative approaches to managing the symptoms of the disease, including allopathic, osteopathic, and naturopathic approaches. The reader will be introduced to essential information on the risk factors associated with Parkinson’s, the signs and symptoms, the different stages of the disease, the various treatments, as well as how the disease develops.