This interesting study of “prediagnostic” progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) out of the UK Biobank was recently published. It concludes that symptoms of PSP can be seen almost 8 years before diagnosis. Reaction time was the strongest predictive marker with changes evident as early as 10 years before diagnosis!
Note that no pathological confirmation of those with PSP was done for this study.
This interesting new research of 300,000 people with PD and 1.2 million matched controls explored prodromal Parkinson’s disease by studying the skin, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal issues reported. The researchers say that studying these systems “offers a unique window for understanding early disease pathogenesis and developing disease modifying treatments.”
The Movement Disorders Center is seeking participants with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who do not have dementia and who do have either delusions (false or mistaken beliefs) and/or hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not really there) to study an investigational drug. This study is being conducted to see if the investigational drug might improve the activities of daily living in PD patients. Participants must have a relative, housemate, or friend assist during the study.
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A recent drug trial by the UCSF Memory and Aging Center is the first of its kind for neurodegenerative disorders and represents an exciting new method for evaluating the effectiveness of a single drug on participants with the same underlying biology, but different diagnoses. First used in cancer research, basket trials lump together patients by disease pathology, not by diagnosis or symptoms. The UCSF trial evaluated the effectiveness of a drug, TPI-287, in treating toxic buildup of tau protein in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AZ), corticobasal syndrome (CBS), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). While the drug ultimately did not show promise, scientists still drew useful takeaways from the study, and future studies of neurodegenerative disease may benefit from utilizing a basket trial design.
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The Bronte-Stewart Lab at Stanford University is seeking participants for the SPRING (Stanford Parkinson’s Research In Neuromodulation for Gait) Study. The SPRING Study aims to investigate the safety and feasibility of adaptive deep brain stimulation for impaired gait and freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease with the goal of advancing the development of patient-specific DBS therapy to improve quality of life for people living with Parkinson’s disease.
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