Thursday, November 23, 2023

Will you help us raise $6000 with the help of a dollar-to-dollar match from a generous donor?

At Movement Disorders Foundation, we're fortunate to have supporters who believe in our commitment to funding the most innovative and promising research to improve the quality of life for people with movement disorders and to offer the highest quality of information in areas of prevention, treatment and cure with our weekly eNewsletter.

This month, we received an opportunity from a generous supporter - a $3000 challenge grant that will match dollar for dollar contributions made to the Movement Disorders Foundation General Fund during our Colorado Gives Day campaign.

We are grateful for you, for any gift, and for your belief in the power of translational research in the spectrum of clinical disorders to make this world a better place.

Remember, any gift you make now through Colorado Gives Day to the Movement Disorders Foundation General Fund counts double thanks to this offer!

And don't forget the Colorado Gives Day $1 million Incentive Fund increases the value of every donation proportionally! Click here to make your donation today or on Colorado Gives Day, Tuesday, December 5.

Chorea severity remains reduced after about one year on Ingrezza

Nearly a year of treatment with Neurocrine Biosciences’ Ingrezza (valbenazine) leads to sustained reductions in chorea in adults with Huntington’s disease (HD), according to interim data from a Phase 3 trial called KINECT-HD2. The study thus far has not revealed any unexpected safety findings.

The most commonly reported adverse events include falls (30.4%), sleepiness (24%), and fatigue (24%), which researchers said are “consistent with symptoms common to HD…or similar to those reported in other [Ingrezza] clinical trials.” Click here to learn more.

Parkinson’s disease linked to nanoplastics that may affect the brain

Researchers from Duke University School of Medicine found that nanoplastics — extremely small particles of plastics left to break down in the environment that can leach into water and soil — affect a specific protein found in the brain, causing changes linked to Parkinson’s disease (PD). The study was recently published in the journal Science Advances.

Dr. Andrew West, professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University School of Medicine and principal investigator of this study, and his team were initially using different types of nanoparticles to facilitate biomarker assays for the diagnosis of PD. By chance, they noticed that some types of nanoparticles had a tremendous effect on aggregating a protein known as alpha-synuclein that is linked to brain diseases. Click here to learn more.

New MRI technique captures changes in FA brains

Noninvasive diffusion MRI (dMRI), a new method that relies on the flow of water in tissue to assess neurodegeneration, has the potential to identify therapeutic targets in Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) patients and support existing measures of disease severity, according to a new study published in the journal Movement Disorders. The study reports that dMRI captures changes in the structure of the brain and brainstem of people with FA.

“This portable diagnostic system would allow testing at-home and at point of care, like clinics and nursing homes, for neurodegenerative diseases globally,” said Ratnesh Lal, a bioengineering, mechanical engineering and materials science professor at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and one of the paper's corresponding authors. Click here to learn more.

Exposure to air pollutants can raise risk of Parkinson's disease

A recent study published in the journal Movement Disorders explores how air pollution could be increasing the risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD). Air pollution can cause inflammation in the brain leading to cell injury. The study discusses how components of air pollution reach the brain through the bloodstream or breathing through the nose and wreak havoc.

Pollutants and toxins can be poisonous to the nervous system and cause inflammation, which can increase the accumulation of alpha-synuclein - a protein found in the brain that plays a key role in Parkinson’s and decrease the number of dopaminergic neurons. Click here to learn more.

Boost Awareness on World Movement Disorders Day,

November 29

World Movement Disorders Day is an annual and global event held every November 29 to raise awareness about movement disorders. Supporting World Movement Disorders Day is easy! Click here to learn more. World Movement Disorders Day is managed by the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS) and its partners.