9 Celebrities Who've Been Diagnosed With Parkinson's Disease

The Mighty     September 17, 2019

After getting a life-changing Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, it can be comforting to find out who else has the same diagnosis. While it’s important to have a friend, family member or acquaintance to talk to in person who knows exactly what you’re going through. Knowing one of your favorite public figures is experiencing similar symptoms as you can also help you feel less alone. These famous folks have spoken out about their condition, bringing awareness and visibility to conditions the general population might not know much about, if anything at all.

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive neurological condition caused by the degeneration of nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls movement. As a result, the nerve cells cannot produce dopamine, a chemical that helps coordinate movement. Hallmark symptoms include shaking in limbs (called a tremor) when the limbs are at rest; slowness of movement, where you cannot move your body as fast as you would like; and rigidity, or stiffness in the body. Parkinson’s also causes a number of symptoms unrelated to movement, including digestive issues, loss of smell, chronic pain, depression and blood pressure issues.

To raise awareness of which celebrities have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (along with an estimated 10 million people around the world), we created a list of nine celebrities who have opened up about having Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s is a very individualistic disease, with each person experiencing a different combination of symptoms at varying levels of severity, and celebrities tend to have resources others may not have. But at the end of the day, they still must contend with often-frustrating symptoms and side effects, taking medications multiple times a day, and the uncertainty of the future, and knowing that they’re “in the club” may help you feel more like you are a part of a community of Parkinson’s fighters.

1. Michael J. Fox

One of the best-known celebrities with Parkinson’s and also one of its biggest advocates, Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991 at age 29. The first symptom he noticed was his finger twitching. After trying to hide his symptoms while filming the sitcom “Spin City” (he would sit on his hands and hide behind props), he finally publicly revealed his diagnosis in 1998.

Two years later, Fox left “Spin City” and launched the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which has become the world’s largest non-profit funder of Parkinson’s drug research and development, funding $800 million in research since its inception.

Since then, Fox has continued to act, appearing on TV shows such as “The Good Wife,” “Boston Legal,” “The Michael J. Fox Show,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Rescue Me,” often incorporating his disease or symptoms into his characters. He also published a memoir, “Always Looking Up,” in 2009.

“It wasn’t until ’94 that I started getting it. That’s when I started to accept the disease — and acceptance doesn’t mean resignation. It means understanding and dealing straightforwardly,” Fox told the New York Times in 2019. “In a way, Parkinson’s got my head in the game. I realized there are bigger things than being a rock star.”

2. Rev. Jesse Jackson

Civil rights activist and two-time presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2015. Revealing his diagnosis in a written statement in 2017 (he was 76 at the time), he said he and his family had begun noticing “changes” three years earlier. He said he views his diagnosis as “a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy in hopes of slowing the disease’s progression.” His father also had Parkinson’s disease.

Since then, Jackson has continued to write and advocate for social change through his Rainbow Push Coalition.

“[Parkinson’s] requires a reorientation to oneself, taking care of oneself, one’s body again, sometimes learning how to walk again, how to stretch again, how to talk again, how to exaggerate steps and movements and not give in to this thing,” Jackson said in an appearance on In Depth with Graham Bensinger.

3. Muhammed Ali

Legendary boxer Muhammed Ali was one of the first major celebrities to go public with a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. He was diagnosed in 1984, in his 40s, three years after he retired from boxing. Ali became a fierce advocate for Parkinson’s awareness and treatment. He helped found the Muhammed Ali Parkinson Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1997, and also created Celebrity Fight Night to raise money for research.

In 1996, 12 years after his diagnosis, Ali famously lit the Summer Olympic Flame at the opening ceremonies in Atlanta, Georgia, with his hand tremoring. Ali died in 2016 at age 74 of sepsis, which is not typically linked with Parkinson’s but could have been exacerbated by his physical condition.

When asked in a 1998 GQ profile if he’d change anything in his life, Ali responded, “I wouldn’t change nothin’. It all turned out to be good.”

4. Linda Ronstadt

Singer Linda Ronstadt, best known for tracks like “Desperado” and “Tracks of My Tears” has progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) — a form of parkinsonism that causes similar symptoms like Parkinson’s disease but is a distinct condition. Whereas the defining feature of Parkinson’s disease is the loss of dopamine in the brain, PSP is characterized by the accumulation of a type of protein called tau in nerve cells in the brain. This accumulation causes cells to die. PSP symptoms are more severe and progress quicker than Parkinson’s symptoms, and PSP does not respond to Parkinson’s medication.

Ronstadt first revealed her diagnosis in 2013, and said one of the first symptoms she noticed was not being able to sing anymore. She stopped singing professionally in 2009. Now 73, Ronstadt has been open about the challenges of her condition, which requires her to spend most of her time at home since she has difficulty standing and moving.

“I have really nice friends; they come over and hang out with me. It’s hard for me to get out. It’s hard for me to sit in a restaurant or sit up in a chair. It’s hard for me to stand around, so if there’s a situation where I’m liable to be caught in a doorway talking to somebody for five minutes, I tend to avoid that,” Ronstadt told The New Yorker.

5. Alan Alda

Actor Alan Alda, best known for roles on “M*A*S*H,” “The West Wing,” “The Blacklist” and “The Aviator,” revealed in 2018, at age 82, that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s three and a half years earlier. He said his first symptom was acting out dreams while he slept. He didn’t have any other symptoms at the time but asked his doctor for a DaTscan, which can help diagnose Parkinson’s, anyway. Alda had read acting out dreams is a common indicator of the disease.

Alda has been open about the steps he’s taking to treat his symptoms, including exercise like boxing, tennis and juggling.

“This is not to short-change people who are suffering with really severe symptoms,” Alda told CBS This Morning. “But in the very beginning, to be immobilized by fear and think the worst thing has happened to you, it hasn’t happened to you, you still have things you can do.”

6. Neil Diamond

Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond shared his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2018, at age 76. He retired from concert touring due to the physical challenges caused by Parkinson’s.

However, Diamond said that he would like to try performing again, in a format he can handle.

“I’m doing pretty well. I’m active. I take my meds. I do my workouts. I’m in pretty good shape. I’m feeling good. I want to stay productive. I still have my voice. I just can’t do the traveling that I once did, but I have my wife there supporting me (and) friends,” he told The Associated Press.

7. Janet Reno

Janet Reno served as the U.S. Attorney General from 1993 to 2001 (the first woman to hold the position) and discovered she had Parkinson’s disease in 1995 at age 57. She continued her work in politics and was on the board of the Innocence Project after her tenure as attorney general ended.

Reno died in 2016 at age 78, due to complications of Parkinson’s disease, according to her sister.

Reno didn’t often speak publicly about her condition, but shared what led her to get diagnosed in an interview with Neurology Now in 2006:

“It was March of 1995… I noticed a tremor in my early-morning walks around the Capitol. At first it was just a faint twitch, but it got progressively worse, and so I went to the doctor. He asked me some questions, examined me, and told me that I had Parkinson’s and that I’d be fine for 20 years,” Reno said. “Then he started talking to me about violence issues related to the criminal justice system!”

8. Paul Sinha

Paul Sinha (in the white suit) with the cast of “The Chase.” Photo courtesy of The Chase Facebook page

Paul Sinha, British comedian and star of the game show “The Chase,” revealed in a blog post published in 2019 that he had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. He explained that his symptoms began in 2017 with a “frozen right shoulder” and a  limp on his right side. He now has a treatment plan in place and plans to continue performing. Sinha is 49 years old.

“A lot of people have asked ‘What can I do to help ?’ The answer is to treat me exactly the same as before,” Sinha wrote.

9. Billy Connolly

Scottish comedian and actor Billy Connolly, who has appeared in movies like “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” and “Brave,” was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013 at age 71. At the time, he was in treatment for prostate cancer.

Connolly discussed Parkinson’s in his BBC documentary series “Made In Scotland”which aired earlier this year. He said that he hasn’t been able to perform as he used to, and feels like he doesn’t have the balance, energy, hearing, eyesight and memory that he used to.

“It takes a certain calm to deal with [Parkinson’s], and I sometimes don’t have it. I sometimes get angry with it, but that doesn’t last long, I just collapse in laughter,” he said in the documentary.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/9-celebrities-whove-diagnosed-parkinsons-233925240.html

Inaugural Cape Cod Parkinson's Optimism Walk

HEALTH | SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

September 29th at Barnstable High School

The Inaugural APDA Cape Cod Optimism Walk for Parkinson’s disease will take place on Sunday, September 29, 2019, at Barnstable High School Track and Field in Hyannis, MA. Registration begins at 11:00 AM and is free for all participants. The Optimism Walk is a fundraising event that offers a short walk of up to 3 miles (distance is optional) and other family-friendly activities. People with PD, their friends, family, coworkers and care partners will step up and help put an end to Parkinson’s disease. The Parkinson Support Network of Cape Cod will host APDA MA Walk and would like to thank Bayada and Pavilion Rehabilitation and Nursing Center for their efforts in supporting this walk, as well as Diamond Sponsor Income Research and Management for their generous local support. Corporate partners Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Lundbeck and Sunovian Pharmaceuticals have joined as National Sponsors of the Optimism Walk 2019 event series as well.

Proceeds from this Walk will be used to benefit Cape Cod programming and research approved by the APDA Scientific Advisory Board. Contact the APDA MA at 800-651-8466 or visit www.apdaparkinson.org/Massachusetts to register.

The APDA can also facilitate interviews with leading Parkinson’s experts and Parkinson’s community members. For more information or to schedule an interview, contact 800-651-8466 or apdama@apdaparkinson.org. You can learn more about the APDA MA and the 2019 Optimism Walk at www.apdaparkinson.org/massachusetts.

About the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA)

The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is the largest grassroots network dedicated to fighting Parkinson’s disease (PD) and works tirelessly to help the approximately one million with PD in the United States live life to the fullest in the face of this chronic, neurological disorder. Founded in 1961, APDA has raised and invested more than $185 million to provide outstanding patient services and educational programs, elevate public awareness about the disease, and support research designed to unlock the mysteries of PD and ultimately put an end to this disease. 

To join us in the fight against PD and to learn more about the support APDA provides nationally through our network of Chapters and Information & Referral (I&R) Centers, as well as our national Research Program and Centers for Advanced Research, please visit us at www.apdaparkinson.org. 

http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2019/09/18/249018-Inaugural-Cape-Cod-Parkinsons-Optimism-Walk

Dutch singer Rob de Nijs to stop performing after Parkinson diagnosis

September 17, 2019

Rob de Nijs. Photo: Clemens Rikken/HH

Popular Dutch singer Rob de Nijs (76), who was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, will stop performing, the Telegraaf reports. 

De Nijs’ 60 year career took off in 1963 with his hit single Ritme van de Regen , followed by many others. His biggest hit was Banger Hart which went to number one in the Mega Top 50 in 1996 and was the only number one hit of his career. 

Images of De Nijs falling off the stage during a performance in Naaldwijk were quickly shared on social media  and De Nijs was accused of being drunk. ‘These terrible reactions hit my family and others around me hard,’ the singer said. ‘I have never in my life performed while drunk. 

We were only just told what was happening, no one else knew,’ De Nijs told the paper. De Nijs is going to finish his current tour and is planning a farewell tour and new cd next year.

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2019/09/dutch-singer-rob-de-nijs-to-stop-performing-after-parkinson-diagnosis/

Smart glove to help doctors treat patients with Parkinson’s

September 17, 2019   Neil Nachbar

RI professor awarded $250,000 federal grant to assist with commercial development

Constant (left) and Mankodiya wearing the smart glove and holding the smart glove software application.

 A University of Rhode Island professor has been awarded a $249,977 federal grant because a smart glove he is developing to help patients with Parkinson’s disease has the potential for commercial success and societal impact.

The glove, which can collect data based on the movements of those living with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders, is being developed by University of Rhode Island Associate Professor of Engineering Kunal Mankodiya.

Such technology could be of significant help to the hundreds of thousands with the disease in this country. Nearly 930,000 people in the United States will have Parkinson’s disease by 2020, according to a Parkinson’s Foundation study, with the number projected to increase to 1.2 million by 2030.

The data from the glove will help doctors make informed decisions on the type of exercises patients should perform and the medications to prescribe.

The two-year grant was awarded by the National Science Foundation through its Partnerships for Innovation Technology Translation program. The program enables researchers to further develop a previous project funded by the NSF, such as the smart glove, that has commercial potential.

“This funding will enable us to take a deep-dive into the world of fusing different domains, including conductive fabrics, wearable electronics, human-factors design, and smart textile manufacturing,” said Mankodiya. “I’m glad that the NSF created such grant programs where innovative technologies could find their way to the marketplace over the years.”

Mankodiya and the students in his Wearable Biosensing Laboratory designed the first prototype of the smart glove in the summer of 2016.

“We’ve performed significant research on the smart gloves over the years,” stated Mankodiya. “We decided that it’s time to transition this technology from research to the market. However, the transition is not straightforward. It will require very focused, narrow research to finalize the physical, digital and analytical components of the smart gloves.”

Nick Constant, who is pursuing a doctorate in electrical engineering at URI, has worked on the smart glove project from its inception and will explore commercial opportunities for the device.

“I spent time building the proof-of-concept glove in the lab for the original NSF CAREER grant,” said Constant. “Its ultimate outcome seemed clear from the beginning, but building a new technology takes time and testing. We have seen this glove go from a hopeful idea to gaining traction in reality through different design iterations and consultations with stakeholders.”

Just as the glove has evolved over time, so has Constant’s role.

“I suppose my involvement has changed from being just the graduate assistant to an entrepreneur,” Constant said. “Kunal and I wrote the new grant side-by-side and plan to pursue the research in the same manner. We will work with some partners who are familiar with the manufacturing process, supply chain and medical device regulations.”

According to Constant, they are in the running for a Rhode Island Commerce Corporation Innovation Voucher, which would enable them to partner with someone on the design aspect of the glove.

“Our expected outcome is a glove that can be shown to investors that has a manufacture-friendly design, along with a practical price point,” said Constant, who is from West Warwick, Rhode Island.

Another collaborator on the project will be neurologist Umer Akbar, who is the co-director of the Movement Disorders Program and the Deep Brain Stimulation Program at Rhode Island Hospital. He is also an assistant professor of Brown University’s medical school.

Akbar, who has worked with Mankodiya on a couple of other projects, specializes in caring for patients with Parkinson’s disease.

“The challenge with studying the many symptoms of the disease is that they fluctuate throughout the day,” said Akbar. “The short window physicians have into their patients’ lives is often inadequate to verify the symptoms, so we sought to develop wearable technology that can remotely and objectively provide clinical data which can help us better treat our patients.”

Using a sample size of 20 to 30 Parkinson’s disease patients, a pilot study will be conducted in Mankodiya’s lab, at Rhode Island Hospital and with the gloves being worn in the patients’ homes.

There is one Parkinson’s disease patient who has already worked with Mankodiya and Constant. Andrea Hopkins, ’68, who is a former assistant vice president of public affairs at URI, has tested smart gloves in the researchers’ lab for a few years.

Diagnosed with the disease in 2002, Hopkins is looking forward to the next phase of the smart glove project.

“There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, but if doctors can monitor their patients remotely using the smart glove, it would enable them to assess how the medications are working and then make adjustments if necessary,” said Hopkins. “This could also eliminate the need for a follow-up appointment, saving the patient and the doctor time.”

Hopkins believes she’s been able to slow down the progression of the disease due to her exercise regimen, which includes physical therapy in a pool, strength training, yoga, four-mile walks and LSVT BIG, which is a program that trains improved movements for small motor tasks, such as buttoning a shirt and large motor tasks, such as getting up from a chair.

Perhaps someday, patients such as Hopkins will receive the most optimal treatment plan from their doctors based on instant feedback from the smart glove.

https://today.uri.edu/news/smart-glove-to-help-doctors-treat-patients-with-parkinsons/

FTC Warns Companies Against Unsubstantiated Advertising of CBD Products for Fibromyalgia

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019   BY MARISA WEXLER 

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent warning letters to three companies that sell cannabis-based products containing cannabidiol (CBD), cautioning them that making unsubstantiated claims about the health benefits of CBD could lead to legal action.

The agency “urges the companies to review all claims made for their products, including consumer testimonials, to ensure they are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence,” according to a press release. The FTC also warned that continuing to sell CBD products without such evidence could violate the FTC Act and result in legal action.

The companies — which the FTC did not name — have been instructed to respond within 15 days to tell the agency what specific actions have been taken to address the FTC’s concerns.

“It is illegal to advertise that a product can prevent, treat, or cure human disease without competent and reliable scientific evidence to support such claims,” the agency warned in its letters.

CBD is one of the active compounds of the cannabis plant that has garnered interest in past years for the treatment of multiple health conditions. In contrast with other cannabis compounds, CBD has demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory and pain-relievingproperties without any psychoactive effects.

Despite the therapeutic potential of cannabidiol, there is scarce scientific evidence effectively demonstrating the safety and benefits of CBD-based products. In most cases, there haven’t been enough well-controlled studies to make reliable scientific conclusions about CBD’s efficacy, or lack thereof.

According to the FTC, however, that has not stopped some companies — and these three in particular — from making unsubstantiated claims about the “benefits” of CBD.

The three companies to which letters were sent sell CBD-infused oils, tinctures, capsules, gummies, and creams. According to the FTC, all have advertised that their CBD products are able to cure or treat serious health conditions and diseases. Beyond relieving pain, the three companies claimed their products could treat arthritis, fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis.

One company’s website claims that CBD “works like magic” to relieve “even the most agonizing pain,” suggesting that this pain-relieving effect is more powerful than that of prescription opioids, which include morphine and oxycodone. To support its claims the company states that it has worked with Harvard scientists through “thousands of hours of research.”

Another company described CBD as a “miracle pain remedy” for both acute and chronic pain. The third states that CBD gummies are highly effective at treating “the root cause of most major degenerative diseases,” and claims its CBD cream relieves arthritis pain and that its CBD oil may effectively treat epilepsy and other conditions.

There have been studies to suggest that CBD can relieve pain for some patients. However, the sweeping generalizations in these companies’ advertisements ignore many relevant caveats. Most studies on CBD were done in people with a serious disease, such as cancer, and they often include a small number of participants. Even in cases in which the study shows statistically significant changes, the positive impact tends to be modest, not allowing scientists to reliably say whether or not CBD is helpful in managing pain or other symptoms.

The FTC teamed up with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March to sent similar joint warning letters to three other companies — Nutra Pure, PotNetwork Holdings, and Advanced Spine and Pain. Those letter, which raised similar concerns related to marketing CBD, also allowed the companies 15 days to take corrective action.

https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/09/17/ftc-warns-companies-against-unsubstantiated-advertising-of-cbd-products-for-fibromyalgia/

Slowing progression in Parkinson’s

By Dr Heather Mortiboys (University of Sheffield)             17 September 2019

Currently, there is no licensed treatment to slow or stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease. However, a team at Sheffield University in the UK are currently working to identify compounds that target the dopaminergic brain cells affected by the disease. Nikki Withers speaks to Dr Heather Mortiboys to hear how their work could potentially slow disease progression.

Presenting as the second most common neurodegenerative condition after Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease affects 148,000 people in the UK alone. “Most people present to their doctor with movement symptoms, such as a tremor, which is a classical symptom and what people often associate with Parkinson’s,” explains Dr Heather Mortiboys, from the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) and the University’s new Neuroscience Institute. “However, there are other symptoms that occur prior to the movement symptoms, such as loss of sense of smell, autonomic disturbances such as constipation and disordered sleep, particularly in REM sleep.”

Most patients with Parkinson’s are termed sporadic or idiopathic; meaning the cause of the disease is unknown. Only about 10 percent of patients develop Parkinson’s through a known gene mutation, although some genetic association studies have identified several genes that might increase a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s, according to Dr Mortiboys, who adds that this does not mean that the person will develop the disease.

Parkinson’s aetiology

Dr Mortiboys has been working in Parkinson’s research for over 18 years and currently holds several senior positions, including Senior Research Fellow for Parkinson’s UK. When asked about the aetiology of the disease, she explains: “We know the type of brain cells that are lost in Parkinson’s. They are in a specific brain region – the midbrain – and they contain the neurotransmitter dopamine. However, we don’t know why these cells fail to function properly.”

"The team… used a reprogramming technique utilising the patient’s skin cells to generate induced neuronal progenitor cells”

Dr Mortiboys’ main research focus of late has been understanding what causes these dopaminergic cells to die in Parkinson’s patients. “If we can identify what is happening at the cellular level, then we can try to target them with drug therapy to stop them dying, or at least slow it down,” she explains. Her team has focused their research on the cell’s ‘powerhouse’ – the mitochondria. “Dopaminergic brain cells are heavily reliant upon their mitochondria. We know that in people with Parkinson’s, the mitochondria don’t function properly, but we don’t really understand the reason why. We also don’t know whether we can increase that function and if so, whether that will stop or slow the brain cells from dying.”

Utilising patient samples

To study the function of the mitochondria in patients with Parkinson’s, the team took skin biopsies from the forearms of patients and cultured the cells in the laboratory. “We took a large number of skin cells from a variety of different people with Parkinson’s; some with a genetic type that causes early-onset Parkinson’s, some with a genetic type that causes later-onset Parkinson’s and then the largest group of patients was those with an unknown cause,” explains Dr Mortiboys. Once the skin cells had been obtained, the researchers were able to investigate how well the mitochondria, and the associated pathways, functioned. “As expected, we found that in all the patients, the mitochondria were not functioning properly in their skin cells. We also noticed that there were problems with the cells’ recycling pathways.”  

The next stage of their project was to identify a compound that would have a beneficial effect on boosting mitochondrial and lysosomal function. “We started off with all of the drugs that are currently in clinical use, which was around 5,000,” says Dr Mortiboys, noting that when developing a drug for neurodegenerative conditions, it needs to pass through the blood-brain barrier. “Instead of screening all 5,000 drugs in the laboratory, we performed in silico computer screening to rank the compounds in their ability to pass through the blood-brain barrier.”

Once the initial computer-based screening had been performed, the team ran a secondary screen to rank the compounds on their clinical characteristics. “We looked at their known side effects, metabolism and dose range,” says Dr Mortiboys. “We ended up with a rank list of all the clinically in-use compounds and then screened the top ranked of these compounds in the patient’s cells for their beneficial effect on the mitochondria in the skin cell.”

Reprogramming for compound validation

Since their initial work focused on patient’s skin cells, the team needed to validate their findings in dopaminergic brain cells, which are lost in Parkinson’s. “This can be particularly challenging because we can’t easily take a brain biopsy from a patient,” says Dr Mortiboys. The team therefore used a reprogramming technique utilising the patient’s skin cells to generate induced neuronal progenitor cells. “We used a slightly modified protocol, which doesn’t take the cells all the way back to being stem cells,” explains Dr Mortiboys. “Our method takes them to an intermediate, which can only become brain cell types. Crucially for us, it doesn’t take them back to the embryonic state.” The reason for this is that age is one of the biggest risk factors for Parkinson’s and many other neurodegenerative conditions. “We didn’t want to wipe all the age-associated changes in the cell; so, with this reprogramming technique, we retained the changes that had happened throughout the cell’s lifetime while still producing a high percentage of dopaminergic cells.”

Once these cells had been cultured, the team studied their mitochondrial function and observed that they were far more defective in the patients’ brain cells than in their skin cells. “This showed us that it did matter which cells we were looking at – it really was a problem with the mitochondria in the dopaminergic brain cells,” explained Dr Mortiboys.

Building on their previous work, the team then looked at the beneficial effects of the previously identified compounds on the dopaminergic brain cells. “We had identified several compounds that boosted mitochondrial function in the skin cells and we wanted to see their effects on the brain cells. For example, would they stop them dying off? Are they healthier when they have been treated with the compound? Do their neuronal features change?”

Dr Mortiboys explains that they were able to identify compounds that had a beneficial effect, and this will be the focus of their research over the next year. “With funding through the Virtual Biotech Programme – the drug development arm of charity Parkinson’s UK – our aim is to take several of these lead compounds and chemically modify them. We’ll then test these chemically‑modified compounds in the dopaminergic patient‑derived system.”

The aim is for the team to identify a lead molecule that retains mitochondrial function and can be progressed through the drug discovery pipeline.

Challenges in research

As with all drug discovery research, there are several challenges the team must address. “I think, going forward, the challenge for this project will be to fine tune the chemical lead compounds to dial up the beneficial effects and dial out the less desirable effects. Then, of course, there is the challenge of being able to test something in the laboratory and have confidence that it will translate into a beneficial effect in the clinic,” says Dr Mortiboys.

Commenting on Dr Mortiboys’ research, Richard Morphy, Drug Discovery Manager at Parkinson’s UK, said: “This is an exciting new approach that could rescue defective mitochondria inside neurons to prevent dysfunction and degeneration of dopamineproducing brain cells. We hope the project will identify a superior group of molecules that could one day deliver a life-changing drug for people living with the condition.”

Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease

The main symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are:

§  Involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body (tremor)

§  Slow movement

§  Stiff and inflexible muscles.

A person with Parkinson’s disease can also experience a wide range of other physical and psychological symptoms. These include: depression and anxiety, balance problems, loss of sense of smell (anosmia), problems sleeping (insomnia), memory problems.

Causes of Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease is caused by a loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra, which leads to a reduction of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine plays a vital role in regulating the movement of the body. The exact cause of the loss of nerve cells is unclear. Most researchers think that a combination of genetic and environmental factors is responsible.

Who is affected?

Parkinson’s disease affects around one in 500 people. Most people with Parkinson’s start to develop symptoms when they’re over 50, although around one in 20 people with the condition first present with symptoms when they’re under 40. Men are slightly more likely to get Parkinson’s disease than women.

https://www.drugtargetreview.com/article/48731/slowing-progression-in-parkinsons/ 

UI research suggests possible new treatment for Parkinson’s disease

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019   Katie Ann McCarver

New research released by the UI suggests that the market drug terazosin could change the trajectory of Parkinson’s treatment.

Researchers Philip Polgreen (top left), Jacob Simmering (bottom left), Jordan Schultz (center), Michael Welsh (top right) and Kumar Narayanan (bottom right) pose for a portrait outside of the Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building on Monday Sept. 16, 2019. (Katie Goodale/The Daily Iowan)

Collaboration among researchers, clinicians, and scientists at the University of Iowa led to the release on Monday of new Parkinson’s research, which suggests that a drug used to treat enlarged prostates could slow progression of the neurodegenerative disease.

UI Pappajohn Biomedical Institute Director Michael Welsh, senior study author, said it was his co-study author Lei Liu in Beijing who discovered that the medication terazosin could increase cellular energy metabolism.

After assembling a team, the pair began investigating how the drug might slow neurodegeneration, or the death of cells, in Parkinson’s patients.

Based on information compiled from databases, the researchers discovered that older men with Parkinson’s who were prescribed terazosin for unrelated reasons had decreased motor and cognitive symptoms, as well as fewer complications. Animal experiments produced similar results.

“I’ve been falling off my chair several times now, because this is really exciting,” Welsh said. “It’s a unique study because of the aggregation of data from animals and human databases. That hasn’t really been possible to do before.”

Researchers may have the opportunity to change the lives of people with Parkinson’s, Welsh said, although just the association of animal and human results is not yet an answer.

“I want to let people know that there’s real hope,” he said. “But it’s not yet proof.”

Next, the UI research team will conduct a randomized, double-blinded study to prove terazonin’s effectiveness in Parkinson’s patients, Welsh said.UI neurologist Kumar Narayanan said the data is only retrospective so far, and researchers must gather prospective evidence in order to convince others that the drug can treat Parkinson’s.

Narayanan said the team is currently in Phase 1 of trials to determine the feasibility and safety of the drug. It’s important to test each aspect of the drug’s effects rigorously, he said, because many promising medications fail in the second and third phases.

There are currently no disease-modifying therapies to slow down motor regression in Parkinson’s, Naranayan said. Approaching Parkinson’s through metabolism is a new path, and UI researchers are lighting the way.

Narayanan mentioned that Parkinson’s affects 1 percent of people in the U.S. older than 65, and as age increases, so will the relevancy of Parkinson’s.

Patients who struggle with symptoms such as slow movement, autonomic dysfunction, and more, Narayanan said, have been an intense motivator to move forward with research.

“Parkinson’s is a big problem in Iowa, so this is something that really hits close to home,” Narayanan said. “I’ve learned to be an optimist … because what’s the alternative?”

In terms of treatment, patients use Levodopa, dopamine antagonists, and brain stimulation. Other trials have been largely negative, Narayanan said. “It’s an incredibly debilitating and dehumanizing disease,” Narayanan said. UI Pharm.D. 

Jordan Schultz said he could only initially find 13 people with Parkinson’s taking the medication, but the results were undeniable. Now, Schultz said he will translate the findings from mice into humans. There’s an eager group of patients for trials, and researchers are hopeful to expand to larger studies within the year.

“The first step is to make sure the dose, the route of administration, formulation, are all going to be safe in this new patient population,” Schultz said. “We have to ensure that we’re doing right by the patients.”

Schultz credited the UI for its collaborative culture, which allowed researchers to work in a way that’s really beneficial and impactful for their patients.

Narayanan said the team believes a terazosin-centered treatment for Parkinson’s could decrease the disease’s rate of progression by two-thirds.

“It’s been difficult to be a Parkinson’s neurologist,” Narayanan said. “Hopefully [this drug’s] effect would be the motor symptoms will progress less and develop less complications.”

https://dailyiowan.com/2019/09/16/ui-research-suggests-possible-new-treatment-for-parkinsons-disease/

Teens awarded national scholarships for groundbreaking medtech research

 September 17, 2019     By Danielle Kirsh

The Davidson Institute for Talent Development recently announced the recipients of its 2019 Davidson Fellow Scholarship.

The scholarship is awarded to 20 students across the U.S. each year. The program offers $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 college scholarships to students 18 years or younger who have completed projects that could be beneficial in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, literature and music.

This year’s winners include Natasha Maniar, 17, of Sunnyvale, Calif.; Neeyanth Kopparapu, 17, of Herndon, Va.; Isha Puri, 18, of Chappaqua, N.Y.; Hiba Hussain, 16, of Old Greenwich, Conn.; and Anna Quinlan, 18, of Ossining, Calif.

“We are proud to announce the 2019 Davidson Fellows Scholarship recipients and applaud them for their hard work and achievement in their fields of study,” founder of the Davidson Institute Bob Davidson said. “By being awarded this recognition, these students have shown immense skill and work ethic, and they should be commended as they continue their educational and research journeys while continuing to work to solve some of the world’s most vexing problems.”

Maniar, who was awarded $50,000, developed a computational approach to identifying sources of atrial fibrillation. Her code identifies AF sources inside the heart with more accuracy than trained experts, according to the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.

“As an avid computer science enthusiast, I’m passionate about the applications of computer science to healthcare,” Maniar said in a news release. “I’m extremely grateful and honored to be named a Davidson Fellow. I’ve always looked up to previous Davidson scholars, and it’s immensely gratifying to be recognized for my work. I’m excited to join the Davidson Fellows community among many inspiring people.”

Kopparapu developed an automatic diagnosis system for early-stage Parkinson’s disease using an MRI scan with a 96.6% accuracy. He developed the diagnosis system after his grandfather received a late Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and was unable to use common medication to treat the disease. He was awarded $25,000 for his diagnostics system.

Puri used a computer’s standard webcam to develop a combination of different machine learning algorithms for eye tracking. The algorithms can predict if a child has a higher risk of dyslexia with 90.18% accuracy. Puri was awarded $25,000 for their work.

Hussain developed a system that detects chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) breath biomarkers using near field communication technology and a smartphone application. The application gives results in minutes and uses existing technology to better COPD detection. Hussain was awarded $10,000 for her work.

Quinlan built a closed-loop insulin pump using low-cost, 3D-printed components to better manage Type 1 and 2 diabetes. Quinlan also received $10,000 for their work.

The Davidson Institute will hold a reception for the winners in Washington D.C. on Sept. 27.

https://www.medicaldesignandoutsourcing.com/teens-awarded-national-scholarships-for-groundbreaking-medtech-research/