Parkinson’s Disease Dubai – what’s new this week?

You want to know what’s new about Parkinson’s disease? We screen the media, see what’s trending and collect interesting research findings for you. Here a short summary:

Certain Sleep Disorder may lead to Parkinson’s Disease

Insomnia/Sleep Disorder

If you are suffering from a certain sleep disorder you may have a 50% risk to develop Parkinson’s disease.The sleep disorder is called RBD (REM-sleep behavior disorder or rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder). The symptoms are often only observed by the partner as the sufferer may not be aware of it. The dreamer is acting out his dreams. Normally your muscles are paralyzed during sleep. In RBD this is not the case, you move your muscles according to your dream. This can involve pushing, kicking, screaming and may even lead to injuries. read more

 

 

New Blood Signature Analysis May Help Diagnose Parkinson’s Disease Earlier

parkinson blood test

A new blood test may more accurately identify blood signatures, or biomarkers, for Parkinson’s disease (PD), according to a new study published in the journal Movement Disorders. The study, conducted by researchers at Mount Sinai and funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, applies a new approach to looking for blood biomarkers for both patients with and without a known genetic risk factor for PD. This paper is the fourth in a series that report new computational techniques to improve the identification of reliable blood biomarkers. read more…

 

Tango could benefit Parkinson’s disease patients

Parkinson treatment tango

Dancing the Argentine tango could have potential benefits for people at certain stages in the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD), according to findings in a new study by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The Neuro, McGill University and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. read more…

 

Vibrating pen makes it easier for Parkinson’s patients to write

The first therapeutic vibrating pen – enabling larger, cleaner and smoother writing for people with Parkinson’s

ARC is the first pen specifically designed for people with Parkinson’s living with Micrographia. This condition can result in small, cramped and often uncomfortable handwriting. Many people with this motor control difficulty give up the practice of writing or drawing altogether. Dopa Solution’s aim is to focus on higher level needs in order
to have the greatest impact on people’s lives. By utilizing high frequency vibration motors within ARC, we are able to facilitate larger and clearer writing by stimulating the key muscles in the hand as well as reducing the effort required to move the pen across the paper.
ARC prototypes have been trialled and developed in conjunction with fourteen people with the symptoms of Micrographia, demonstrating an overall improvement in writing of 86%.