Blood pressure, asthma meds tied to lower Parkinson’s risk

People prescribed certain medications to treat asthma or high blood pressure are less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, according to an analysis of healthcare data in Norway. The finding implies these therapies may have protective effects in Parkinson’s, which are currently being explored in preclinical models.

In the study, scientists screened data from the public health system in Norway for associations between various medications and the risk of developing Parkinson’s. The analysis included data on more than 5 million people, including 15,849 diagnosed with Parkinson’s, as well as on about 600 million prescriptions for 783 different drugs. Click here to learn more.

Advanced treatments relieve seniors of essential tremor

Approximately 5% of people older than 60 are affected by essential tremor worldwide. Today, there are advanced treatments available to treat essential tremors, eliminating the need for seniors to have to make the hard choice to “just live with” their condition. Two of these treatments are deep brain stimulation and MR-guided focused ultrasound. Both are covered by Medicare to ensure seniors have access to these advanced treatments. Click here to learn more.

Scientists use long-approved GSK HIV drug to stave off Huntington's proteins in mice

In a report published in Neuron, scientists from the University of Cambridge describe how an HIV drug from GSK or ones like it could have new therapeutic potential against neurodegenerative disease, establishing a link between microglia and autophagy in the etiology of Huntington’s disease. “We’re very excited about these findings because we’ve not just found a new mechanism of how our microglia hasten neurodegeneration, we’ve also shown this can be interrupted, potentially even with an existing, safe treatment,” said senior author David Rubinsztein, Ph.D. Click here to learn more.

FAU and Insightec partner to treat neurological disorders

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and Insightec, a global health care company, have partnered to advance scientific knowledge about the use of focused ultrasound to treat brain diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. “Focused ultrasound is an amazing tool that affords us the opportunity to treat many brain diseases in a variety of ways,” said Gregg Fields, Ph.D., interim vice president for research at FAU.

Currently, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved means of creating lesions that treat Parkinson’s disease. Click here to learn more.

Understanding the role of octopamine in neurodegeneration

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered how octopamine, the major “fight-or-flight” neurotransmitter in invertebrates, communicates with other cells in mammalian brains to prevent cell death, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings could help inform future therapies for Parkinson’s disease and other disorders that have been associated with dysregulated levels of octopamine in the brain. Click here to learn more.