Parkinson Disease

The director of functional neurosurgery at Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute provided perspective on the growth of high intensity focused ultrasound and the lessons learned when treating essential tremor.

Findings showed that global cognition declines in the prediagnostic period in men but not women with incident Parkinson disease, further indicating cognitive heterogeneity in the prodromal period by sex.

The senior vice president and chief scientific officer of the Parkinson’s Foundation discussed the potential for new therapies that target genetically mutated forms of Parkinson disease. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]

The international study on genetic testing and counseling, PD GENEration, is currently at the halfway mark of its goal of 15,000 participants.

Compared with healthy controls, those with isolated RBD performed significantly worse on all cognitive assessments except in tasks of executive function.

The senior vice president and chief scientific officer of the Parkinson’s Foundation detailed some of the potential reasons for the nearly 50% increase from the previously estimated rate. [WATCH TIME: 5 minutes]

The senior vice president and chief scientific officer of the Parkinson’s Foundation provided perspective on recently published findings showing a nearly doubling of Parkinson disease incidence that previously reported. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

Analysis on the EARLYSTIM trial assessing deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in early Parkinson disease showed maintained speech intelligibility and nonspeech oral movements.

Investigators concluded that the therapeutic effectiveness of antiparkinsonian medications is short and limited for intolerable abdominal pain.

For controlling symptoms of Parkinson disease psychosis, pimavanserin had the most favorable effect size based on 2 major efficacy outcomes.

Caregivers of patients with advancing PD were more likely to spend more hours caring per day and had a higher self-perceived burden, compared with caregivers for patients with early PD.

The chief training and education officer at the Parkinson’s Foundation discussed the inclusion of various medical professionals that assist in Parkinson disease care, and the need to provide access to educational tools to inform clinicians. [WATCH TIME: 5 minutes]

Nearly two-third of all participants with REM-sleep behavior disorder had mild cognitive impairment level 2 with multi-domain MCI, but particularly attention and memory deficits.

After a follow-up of nearly 4 years, nearly half of the patients (n = 10) with baseline classification of cognitive IADL impairment and mild cognitive impairment converted to dementia.

Going forward, the company must provide safety and steady-state pharmacokinetic data on the 200 mg dose of IKT-148009, as well as continued measurement of visual acuity and examination of the cornea and lens.

Mesdopetam showed significant effects on the secondary end point of Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale, an assessment of involuntary movements associated with long-term treatment with dopaminergic medication.

KM-819, a potent inhibitor of FAF1, a key regulatory protein in cell death pathways, is currently being assessed in a 2-part trial, with results expected to help guide a future 24-month study.

A systematic review revealed inconsistencies in the literature for assessing subjective cognitive complaints in cognitively normal patients with Parkinson disease.

Plain sulfonamide diuretics was identified as a drug chemical subgroup potentially inversely associated with Parkinson disease risk, while weaker signals included insulin and ß2-adrenergic agonists.

Not previously explored, new findings showed links between antiseizure drug prescriptions and incident PD, with trends towards increased risk in those with greater number of prescription issues and multiple AEDs.

Ryan Case, PhD, head of clinical medical affairs at NeuroDerm, spoke about the main findings from the phase 3 BouNDless trial of ND0612 for Parkinson disease.

In addition to improving ON time in patients with Parkinson disease, ND0612 was well tolerated, with only 6.3% of patients randomized to the treatment discontinuing the trial.

A population-based incident of Parkinson disease cases showed patients were more likely to develop PD dementia in 10 years with a lower level of lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase activity.

After 2 months of treatment, findings showed more improvement in anxiety and mental status with acupuncture in patients with Parkinson Disease than those on sham acupuncture.

Findings from a large-scale trial of adults aged 65 and older with Parkinson disease showed that treatment with pimavanserin was associated with lower risk of mortality than other atypical antipsychotics.

The increased risk of dementia in patients showing early orthostatic hypotension was independent of the presence of concomitant supine hypertension and other factors associated with cognitive impairment.

Patients with high dysautonomia scores showed significantly slower walking speed, decreased cadence, and shorter stride but increased time than the lower scored group in backward gait.

The case-control study identified numerous motor symptoms and signals that are associated with Parkinson disease diagnosis years after they begin to occur.

Subsequent diagnosis of Parkinson disease was associated with a range of risk factors such as alcohol misuse and traumatic head injury, along with several other comorbidities and prodromal features.