Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Reducing Levels of Ataxin-1

Dr. Jack Harless

We currently have 16 members. This week we reviewed new information from the journal Nature that highlights the effects reducing levels of the protein Ataxin-1 by as little as 20%, may lead to a significant reduction in patient symptomatology.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Update: Improving Motor Performance

Dr. Jack Harless

We currently have 16 members.  This week we looked at a study published in the journal of Movement Disorders from 2010 that compared three different forms of exercise & their efficacy as determined by the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score over a 16 week period.  The type of exercise that was most effective at creating functional change was an intense high-amplitude form of movement derived from the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Halting Toxic Proteins

Dr. Jack Harless Team Captain

Team Parkinson’s has 16 members at this time. This week we looked at preliminary research from Georgetown University Medical Center where tiny doses of a leukemia drug have been used to halt accumulation of toxic proteins linked to Parkinson's disease in the brains of mice. This finding provides the basis to plan a clinical trial in humans to study the effects.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Fall Prevention Research!

Team Captain Dr. Jack Harless

We currently have 16 members.  This week we highlighted a current research  project on fall prevention currently beginning at our very own University of Dayton.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Pesticides and Parkinson's

Dr. Jack Harless Team Captain

 

Team Parkinson’s has 16 members currently.  This week we looked at research from UCLA that points to the link between pesticides & Parkinson’s.  Pesticides break down dopaminergic neurons which is one of the primary mechanisms in people with Parkinson’s

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Update!

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

Team Parkinson’s has 16 members as of 01/29/13.  This week we highlighted the National Parkinson Foundation’s toll free number that is used as a resource to answer questions, provide resources, & help with one-on-consultations.  Included was a breakdown of statistics for utilization of the toll free number.  For example, males placed 56% of the calls to the NPF’s toll free numbers, while females placed 44% of the calls.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research Update!

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

This week, Team Parkinson’s has 16 members.  We looked at research that explored the role of intense exercise on people with Parkinson’s.  The preliminary results are exciting.  After eight weeks of hour-long sessions of riding recumbent bikes, most of the patients in Dr. Alberts’s study showed significant lessening of tremors and better body control, improvements that lingered for up to four weeks after they stopped riding.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Silent Stroke Update

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

Team Parkinson’s has 15 members.  This week we looked at a study showing that researchers at the university's Faculty of Life Sciences have now discovered that a small stroke, also known as a silent stroke, can cause Parkinson's disease. This is a proposed theory as to why healthy people develop Parkinson’s.  Their findings have been published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Update!

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

We have 15 members. This weak we looked at the role brain inflammation plays in initiating such diseases as Parkinson’s & Alzheimer’s. We talked about how many lifestyle choices that foster toxicity & deficiency lead to all types of bodily inflammation, whereas choices that lead to purity & sufficiency tend to lead towards greater fun & function on all levels.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research Exercise Slows Shrinkage of the Brain!

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

We currently have 15 members. This week we looked at an article published on the Michael J. Fox Foundation website that showed several research articles supporting evidence that exercise slows brain shrinkage, as well as highlighting evidence that physical exercise appears to improve gait speed, muscle strength, and fitness in people with PD.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Skin Cells

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

Team Parkinson’s currently has 15 members. This week we looked at brand new study published in Nature, (Oct. 17th), that looked at reprogramming skin cells from Parkinson's disease patients with a known genetic mutation. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified damage to neural stem cells as a powerful player in the disease. The findings may lead to new ways to diagnose and treat the disease.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Exercise with your Passion!

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

We are holding at 15 members.  This week we shared a blog article from the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation Blog about finding ways to rehab or exercise that center on the individuals passion.  The effectiveness of these modalities is often in direct proportion to the therapists ability to connect with the persons passion & incorporate into rehab & exercise

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research Update! Rapid Eye Movement Indicator

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

We have 15 members as of today. This week we looked at a new methodology for potentially screening individuals who are at risk for developing PD. Data from preliminary research showed that by watching participants simply watch TV & identifying specific eye movements they concluded, “with eye movement data from 108 subjects, the team was able to identify older adults with Parkinson's Disease with 89.6 percent accuracy.” Further testing is needed, but the ramifications of this are tremendous as this is an extremely cost effective screening tool.

Team Parkinson's Research: Quality of Life

Jack Harless
Team captain

We have 15 members & going strong. This week we looked at a Parkinson’s blog that was full of useful information, http://parkinsonsfocustoday.blogspot.com/2011/01/parkinsons-updates-odds-ends-beginnings.html. We highlighted a paragraph that, I feel, is particularly helpful to us @ St. Leonard. “People often ask what is the best medicine for Parkinson's disease and I must say that there is no best answer, what is best is what works to relieve your symptoms and will allow you to have the best quality of life possible. For most people, one medication, one treatment is not going to be enough. We still encourage everyone explore dietary adjustments; nutritional supplements of good quality; physical (exercise), speech, massage, occupational, music and dance therapy. Never forget the power of true laughter to feel better.”

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

This week we looked at research that examined patterns in the quality of life of Parkinson' disease patients prior to diagnosis. Researchers have documented declines in physical and mental health, pain, and emotional health beginning several years before the onset of the disease and continuing thereafter. The hope is that with future research of this kind, biological markers of the disease process may be recognizable in this preclinical phase, which can lead to early treatment.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research Update

Dr. Jack Harless Team Captain

Team Parkinson’s has 15 members and going strong. This week we looked at new the effects of caffeine on those with PD. The study concluded that caffeine, which is widely consumed around the world in coffee, tea and soft drinks, may help control movement in people suffering from Parkinson's. Exciting news for coffee and tea addicts everywhere!

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Removing Stereotypes

Team Captain

Dr. Jack Harless

We now have 15 members. This week we covered a study that points to the fact that many people develop negative impressions about individuals with Parkinson's disease, based solely on how they communicate. This is an important reminder to never judge a book by its cover and to always treat every person with respect and understanding, regardless of condition.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research: Update!

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

We have 14 members. This week we looked at a new method of cell isolation discovered by Greengard, Heiman, and colleagues, called Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification (TRAP), that reveals translational profiles in cells by isolating the genetic messages as they pass through the protein production factories called ribosomes.




This new technique will help propel the scientific community, which has struggled to sleuth out the subtle molecular differences amongst the hundreds of specialized cell types that are tangled together in the brain tissues, toward a better understanding of the causes of Parkinson's disease.

Virtual Team Parkinson's Update: Initiation of Locomotion!

We now currently have 13 members. This week we looked at a new study from the Journal of Physiology. This study looked at specific mechanisms involved with locomotion, or how the brain initiates movement in vertebrates. When mechanisms in the brain that initiate locomotion break down -- for example, in people with Parkinson's disease -- starting to walk becomes a real problem. Therefore, understanding the initiation of swimming in tadpoles could be a first step towards understanding the initiation of locomotion in more complex vertebrates, including people, and may eventually have implications for treating movement disorders such as Parkinson's.

~Dr. Jack Harless