The Michael J Fox Foundation has reported today, 1st September 2015, that researchers testing the compound inosine for its effect on Parkinson’s progression have funding from the National Institutes of Health for a Phase III trial, the last step before regulatory approval. Inosine is a precursor to the antioxidant of urate. The Michael J. Fox…
drugs
Drug candidates may block cell death in Parkinson’s disease
Science Daily reports that in a pair of related studies, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown their drug candidates can target biological pathways involved in the destruction of brain cells in Parkinson’s disease. The studies, published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and Scientific Reports, suggest that it…
Crowdfunding for Parkinson’s Research
A Scottish company, Parkure, part of the Edinburgh Science Triangle collaboration, is looking to raise a total of £100,000 from crowdfunding to help find a cure for Parkinson’s, which affects an estimated 127,000 people in the UK. It is hoped that additional funds will come from private equity investors. It will be the first time…
Exenatide may be disease-modifying for PD
Exenatide is a type 2 diabetes treatment that has been shown to have neuroprotective/neurorestorative properties in preclinical models of neurodegeneration. A new study by Aviles-Olmos et al published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports on the results of a trial to evaluate the progress of 45 patients with moderate Parkinson’s disease (PD). Single-blinded rating…
Range of brain diseases could be treated by single drug
On May 6th, the BBC reported on the tantalising prospect of treating a range of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, all with the same drug. This prospect has been raised by researchers at Leicester University. In a study, published in Nature, they prevented brain cells dying in mice with prion disease.
Medication Workshop
A very successful and well-attended medication workshop was held on Wednesday 22 February 2012. Discussions were led by Alison Stewart, Senior Parkinson’s Nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital, and Alison Thomson, Senior Clinical Pharmacist in the Department of Neurosciences at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh. The flyer for the meeting is here: Seminar_on_Medication (PDF)