Health News

Diabetes medication may protect against a common cause of blindness: Metformin may reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration

Researchers from Taiwan have shown that people with type 2 diabetes who took a common diabetes medication, metformin, had a significantly lower rate of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The study suggests that the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects of metformin can protect against AMD while it controls diabetes. The research will be presented today at AAO […]

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Parkinson’s: New molecule can stop neural damage

Data from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicate that approximately 50,000 people receive a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease each year in the United States. In terms of its worldwide prevalence, studies have shown that Parkinson’s disease affects one percent of the population aged 60 and over, and it is the second most widely diagnosed […]

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Call for research to address significant gaps in understanding Parkinson’s disease

An analysis published in Drug Discovery Today reveals the gap between animal models of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and our understanding of the neurodegenerative processes underlying the disease, and calls for the implementation of modern, human biology-based technologies to better understand pathological processes and improve treatment outcome. While current approaches to drug discovery for PD have […]

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New sensors track dopamine in the brain for more than year: Tiny probes could be useful for monitoring patients with Parkinson’s and other diseases

Dopamine, a signaling molecule used throughout the brain, plays a major role in regulating our mood, as well as controlling movement. Many disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, depression, and schizophrenia, are linked to dopamine deficiencies. MIT neuroscientists have now devised a way to measure dopamine in the brain for more than a year, which they believe […]

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Effects of deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson’s disease: Improved effects on motor function and fewer side effects possible

Researchers from Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin have studied motor and cognitive effects of deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Their results show that the adverse cognitive effects of deep brain stimulation are linked to a different neural pathway than that responsible for the treatment’s desired motor effects. This finding will help optimize treatments […]

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Biomarkers link fatigue in cancer, Parkinson’s

Biological markers responsible for extreme exhaustion in patients with cancer have now been linked to fatigue in those with Parkinson’s disease, according to new research from Rice University. “Inflammation and fatigue in early, untreated Parkinson’s disease” will appear in an upcoming edition of Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. It is one of the first studies to link […]

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New ceria nanoparticles attack Parkinson’s disease from three fronts

Researchers at the Center for Nanoparticle Research, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, South Korea), have developed a set of nanoparticles for Parkinson’s disease treatment. Tested in mice and published in Angewandte Chemie as a “hot paper,” this study represents the first biomedical application of nanoparticles in the clearance of reactive oxygen by-products in […]