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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease stories: 30 news summaries

1 - 20 of 30 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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(Newser) - Exposure to Agent Orange appears to increase the risk of developing heart disease and Parkinson’s, a congressionally mandated report says. The carcinogenic defoliant has not been definitively linked with the illnesses, but a professor who led the report says there is “limited or suggestive evidence of an association.... More »

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veterans • heart disease • Parkinson's disease • carcinogens • Vietnam War • Agent Orange • Institute of Medicine • defoliant

 Ex-NBA Star 
 Grant  Battles 
 Parkinson's 

Retired forward hopes to help other early-onset sufferers

May 19, 09 1:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - Retired NBA forward Brian Grant has gone public with his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, ESPN reports. The former player, whose career included stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Miami Heat, said tests in January confirmed he had the disease. He decided to come forward now to... More »

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NBA • Los Angeles Lakers • Miami Heat • Portland Trail Blazers • Parkinson's disease • Michael J. Fox • Jay-ZTV • Brian Grant

 Grab a Latte, 
 It Could Be 
 Good for You 

Coffee, caffeine may have health benefits

May 18, 09 11:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Get this: Coffee's not bad for you, and it could have health benefits. New studies do a better job of separating the effects of coffee from those of its formerly frequent partner, cigarettes, the Los Angeles Times reports. And when you look beyond caffeine, "coffee is a complex beverage... More »

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cancer • hypertension • diabetes • coffee • Parkinson's disease • caffeine • stroke • cirrhosis


 Broke Feminist 
 Faces Health 
 Care Battle 

Family tragedies have left Michelman with nothing

Apr 19, 09 4:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - When Kate Michelman had mounting bills as a pregnant single mother of three in 1969, she lobbied for abortion rights and became one of America's top feminists. Now, treading water financially again, she's girding for a new fight—over health care. Her daughter is paralyzed and her husband has health... More »

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health care costs • health insurance • Parkinson's disease • feminists • paralysis • NARAL • Kate Michelman

 Ali: Nothing Has Defeated Me 


Apr 7, 09 11:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - When NPR asked Muhammad Ali to weigh in for its “This I Believe” series, the boxing legend’s response was simple. “I have always believed in myself,” he said, in an essay read on the air by his wife, Lonnie. “And I still do.” Ali... More »

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Parkinson's disease • Muhammad Ali • confidence • NPR

(Newser) - Potential good news for Parkinson's patients: An experimental treatment on mice that involves implanting electrodes on the spinal cord had great success, Reuters reports. Mice that received the so-called stimulator were able to move more easily. Human trials are expected to start next year, and they could lead the way... More »

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Parkinson's disease • dopamine • therapy • deep brain stimulation • spinal cord • lab mice • laboratory

 Ultrasound May Help 
 Counter Brain Disease 

Low frequency ultrasound shown to release neurotransmitters

Jan 10, 09 4:50 PM CST
(Newser) - Bombarding the brain with sound waves may not seem like the most logical way to repair damage, but a new study shows that ultrasound may have therapeutic uses, reports the Economist. While ultrasound technology has long been used to take images of human interiors, such as fetuses in the... More »

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Parkinson's disease • brain • neurons • Alzheimer's Disease • brain chemistry • ultrasound

Ailing Biotech Firms Need
Shot in the Arm

Flatlining economy threatens breakthrough medical research

Nov 21, 08 1:05 PM CST
(Newser) - For the first time in years, the biotech industry is in desperate need of a lifeline, Bloomberg reports, as the economic crisis threatens to shove companies into bankruptcy and derail the development of potentially life-saving drugs. “I’m looking down the barrel of a gun,” admitted one CEO.... More »

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Wall Street • investors • pharmaceutical companies • GlaxoSmithKline • stocks • biotechnology • Parkinson's disease • IPO • multiple sclerosis • biotech companies • Alzheimer's Disease • financial crisis

 Parkinson's Linked 
 to Lack of Vitamin D 

Research finds Parkinson's patients deficient in sunshine vitamin

Oct 14, 08 5:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - New research has strongly linked Parkinson's disease to a lack of vitamin D in the body, the BBC reports. Studies found that 55% of elderly patients with Parkinson's had low levels of the vitamin, compared to 36% of healthy elderly people. Researchers are unsure whether the deficiency is a cause... More »

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nutrition • vitamins • Parkinson's disease • sunlight • vitamin D

opinion

For a Lifelong Healthy Diet, Look to the Mediterranean

Diet is healthy and satisfying, doctors say

Oct 4, 08 5:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Mediterranean getaway may be too expensive these days, but a taste of the region is just what the doctor ordered. The most thorough study to date of the Mediterranean diet confirms long-held beliefs about its health benefits, writes Dr. Peter Libby in the New York Times. It’s “... More »

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cancer • food • heart disease • fast food • Parkinson's disease • Greece • Mediterranean diet • Alzheimer's Disease

Scientists Tinker
With Biological Clock

New discovery on engineered liver genes could slow aging

Aug 11, 08 2:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - US researchers believe they have found a way to turn back the clock on the processes which make organs age. Scientists engineered genetic alterations to make the livers of older mice function like younger mice, the BBC reports. The discovery may lead to new treatments for Alzheimer's and other diseases... More »

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Parkinson's disease • aging • aging process • Alzheimer's Disease • genetic alteration • protein-recycling • Cellular Gerontology

 Michael J. Fox
 Returns
 to TV 

Will guest star on 'Rescue Me'

Jul 17, 08 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Michael J. Fox will return to the small screen next year in a four-episode guest role on FX's "Rescue Me,” the AP reports. The “Spin City” star, whose symptoms of Parkinson’s disease have become evident since his 1991 diagnosis, will play the wheelchair-bound love-interest of the... More »

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television • Parkinson's disease • celebrity • guest appearance • Michael J. Fox

Parkinson's Drugs Trigger Compulsive Behavior

Patients report sudden onset of addictions

Jul 14, 08 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Drugs for Parkinson's disease can be enormously beneficial, relieving patients' tremors and rigid muscles. But some patients are now complaining of an unusual side effect—extreme compulsive behavior. One woman began taking Mirapex to combat symptoms and suddenly found herself with a $200-a-day scratch-off lottery ticket habit, reports the Chicago ... More »

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gambling • Parkinson's disease • addiction • prescription drugs • dopamine • Mirapex • compulsive behavior

 Surgery for Depression? Yup. 

Deep brain stimulation, used for years to fight Parkinson's, is spreading out

May 3, 08 8:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - A type of brain surgery previously used to treat symptoms of Parkinson’s disease may be effective in countering the debilitating effects of deep depression, CNN reports. A new study shows that deep brain stimulation, a process in which electrodes are inserted into problem areas in the brain and hooked... More »

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depression • Parkinson's disease • neuroscience • obsessive compulsive disorder • deep brain stimulation • psychiatric disorders • psychiatrist • brain scans • electrodes

Blood Test May Predict Dementia 6 Years Early

Some worry over boost in insurance costs; others want wider study

Apr 7, 08 1:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new blood test can warn of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases six years before symptoms appear, its makers say. The assessment, set to launch this summer, could allow patients to begin fighting the ailments early with through dietary changes, exercise and drugs, the Daily Mail reports. But some... More »

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health insurance • dementia • drug companies • Parkinson's disease • blood tests • Alzheimer's Disease

Parkinson's Spreads
to Transplanted Cells

Disease found in healthy cells grafted to sufferers' brains

Apr 7, 08 9:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Transplanting healthy cells into the brains of people with Parkinson's alleviates symptoms, but sufferers showed signs of deterioration as the disease spread to the grafted cells, according to two studies in the journal Nature Medicine. Scientists in Sweden and Chicago discovered similar results in patients who received cell transplants up... More »

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Harvard Medical School • stem cells • Parkinson's disease • medical research • dopamine • Wallenberg Neuroscience Center • Rush University Medical Center • Dalhousie University • brain cell transplants • cell grafts • Lewy bodies • Michael J. Fox • levodopa

Pesticides Linked to Parkinson's

Risk is greater to home gardeners than via  exposure at work

Mar 30, 08 2:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - People exposed to pesticides ran a 1.6 times higher risk of developing the neurological disease Parkinson’s, reports a new study of 600 participants. "Recreational pesticide use in the home and garden was more of a source of exposure than occupational use,” says one researcher. Experts now... More »

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health • Parkinson's disease • brain • organic • neurological disorder • chemical • health research • pesticide

 Cloned
 Stem Cells
 Best for
 Parkinson's 

Study finds mice's own stem cells most effective vs disease

Mar 24, 08 9:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have found that embryonic stem cells effectively treat Parkinson's disease in lab mice, but only when the cells come from the sick mouse's own clones, Reuters reports. The study, published in Nature Medicine, created "therapeutic clones" by transferring cell nuclei into mouse egg cells and growing them into... More »

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stem cells • Parkinson's disease • cloning • lab mice • therapeutic cloning

Sea Slugs Inspire New
Brain Implant Technology

Findings could apply to people with Parkinson's and spinal cord injuries

Mar 7, 08 7:17 AM CST
(Newser) - Sure, it’s a warty creepy-crawly that lurks at the bottom of the ocean, but the sea cucumber has inspired scientists to create a new material that could be used in implanted brain electrodes to help people with Parkinson’s disease, reports the BBC. The creature stiffens its skin when... More »

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Parkinson's disease • brain • neurological disorder • stroke • implant • spinal cord • health research • scientific breakthroughs • sea cucumber • brain implants

Dutch Pharma Firm Preps
Pot Pill

Drug may hit shelves in 5 years for migraine, Parkinson's victims

Jan 27, 08 1:31 PM CST
(Newser) - Why smoke pot when you can pop a pill? Echo Pharmaceuticals is jumping into Phase II trials for a new cannabis pill that could snag 20%-30% of the booming medical marijuana market, Reuters reports. The Dutch firm plans to sell the pill within 5 years, giving medical marijuana users a... More »

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medical marijuana • migraines • Parkinson's disease • marijuana • cannabis • multiple sclerosis • pharmaceutical • clinical trials • Alzheimer's Disease

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