What drug can make a wither’d palsy cease to shake?

~ Simon ~ 3 Comments

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When considering the development of new drugs for Parkinson’s, it is often forgotten how much of a struggle it was to get levodopa – the current ‘gold standard’ treatment for Parkinson’s – approved for clinical use.

After some initially very encouraging results (replicated by three independent labs), the agent struggled to move forward as the broader research community presented mixed and conflicting findings (including two randomised, double-blinded studies that showed no positive effects at all).

Drug development is never a straightforward path.

Rather it is a process of trial-and-error, with iterative steps in our understanding about the biology of diseases aiding us on the journey.

In today’s post, we will look back at the roller-coaster ride that was the early development of levodopa as a therapy for Parkinson’s.

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Source: Alpha-Sense

“Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers”

The development of a new treatment for any medical condition is hard.

Correction.

Let me rephrase that.

The development of a new treatment for any medical condition is EXTREEEEMELY hard.

We live in a wonderful age where anything seems medically possible. From the rapid development of vaccines for novel pandemic viral outbreaks to gene therapy treatments that are helping children with spinal muscular atrophy to walk, it is wonderous what can be achieved. It is an epoch in which we have built up a huge arsenal of medications that defend us against many of the pathogens of the world and help to treat the symptoms of a wide range of conditions. Some of these therapies have such remarkable biological properties that they are used in the treatment of more than one condition. And in this amazing reality, we have begun to develop treatments that don’t just deal with the symptoms of a condition, but stop the disease in its tracks.

Given this circumstance, it is all to easy to take for granted the long and arduous process that was required for each of those therapies to get to the point where they are being used in clinical settings. After the thousands of hours of preclinical research, the clinical trial process takes an additional extended period of time, and it is never a straight line. And in a world where western society has developed high expectations for immediate gratification, it is important to sometimes reflect on just how hard the development of novel therapies can be.

A good case study of the difficulties associated with drug development is the early clinical investigations into the use of levodopa for Parkinson’s.

Continue reading “What drug can make a wither’d palsy cease to shake?” →

In the vacinity of a vaccine

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Researchers have been developing vaccines for Parkinson’s in the hope of not only treating individuals currently affected by the condition, but also limiting the incidence of the condition in future generations.

Some of these vaccines are being clinically tested and the results are encouraging.

In today’s post, we will review clinical trial results recently published by a biotech company called Vaxxinity and what comes next for the field.

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Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Source: NationalTrust

The return of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont) to England in 1721 represented a monumental – but little appreciated moment – in Western medical history.

Five years earlier, her husband Edward Wortley Montagu had been appointed Ambassador to the Ottoman empire, and they had moved to Constantinople (now Istanbul). In March 1717, the 27 year old Mary – whose only brother had died from smallpox – witnessed the practice of inoculation against smallpox called variolation, which she herself called “engrafting” when she wrote home about it in her letters.

Source: Guardian

Variolation was the method of inoculation used to immunize individuals against smallpox (Variola) with material taken from a patient (or a recently variolated individual), in the hope that a mild infection would result and provide protection. Only 1–2% of those variolated died from the induced infection, but this was much better than the >30% who contracted smallpox naturally.

In 1718, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu asked that her five-year-old son, Edward be inoculated against smallpox, and after the procedure, wrote to her husband:

“The boy was engrafted last Tuesday, and is at this time singing and playing, and very impatient for his supper” (Source)

And before they left Turkey in 1721, she had her daughter Mary inoculated as well. Mary and her brother were the first English people to be immunized against a disease. Upon her return to London, she enthusiastically promoted the idea of variolation. Unfortunately she encountered a great deal of resistance from the medical establishment, and the idea didn’t really catch on.

This is very interesting, but what does this have to do with Parkinson’s?

Continue reading “In the vacinity of a vaccine” →

Monthly Research Review – September 2024

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during September 2024.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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So, what happened during September 2024?

In world news:

3rd September – An analysis of 63 studies from 1994 to 2022 conducted by Australian researchers and commissioned by the World Health Organization found that mobile phones are not linked to brain and head cancers (Click here and here to read more about this).

 

12th September – The first commercial spacewalk is conducted by entrepreneur Jared Isaacman as part of the Polaris Dawn mission, which also includes the highest altitude orbit by a human crew since the Apollo program.

 

20th September – UK debt hits 100% of GDP, the highest level since 1960s (and that figure doesn’t include the unfunded pension schemes of teachers, police, nurses/doctors, and other public sector workers – click here to read more about this).

 

26th September – Hurricane Helene, the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Maria in 2017, makes landfall in Florida as a category four hurricane.

September 30 – The UK becomes the first G7 country to phase out coal power for electric generation, after 142 years of using the energy source (Source).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In September 2024, there were 1,044 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (8,972 for all of 2023 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – September 2024” →

A bit of ADLL for RBD

~ Simon ~ 9 Comments

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People diagnosed with REM sleep behavior disorder (or RBD) have a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s. RBD is a sleep condition in which the affected individual physically acts out their dreams as they sleep. 

Usually when we are dreaming, our bodies become momentarily paralysed. But sufferers of RBD loss this ability and begin moving about in bed, reacting to their dreams.

Recently, researchers have been testing a treatment for vertigo (called Tanganil) in people with RBD, and the results of a small pilot study are rather remarkable.

In today’s post, we will look at what RBD is, what the new pilot study found, and what this could mean for Parkinson’s.

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Dreaming. Source: Psypost

When we sleep, our brain (and body) pass through different phases of slumber. In general, there are two broad segments of sleep:

  1. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and
  2. Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.

And we pass through these phases in a wave-like cycles across the night:

Stages of sleep. Source: Wikipedia

In addition, there are different stages that make up the NREM sleep parts of these cycles (stage 1-4, on the left hand side of the image above), which we pass through on our way down to stage 4 and back again.

These stages exhibit different patterns of brain activity, which – when recorded – look like this:

Brain activity during stages of sleep. Source: Homesteadschools

The brain is most active during REM sleep, and this is the period during which we dream. The first period of REM sleep begins about 90 minutes after you fall asleep. It typically lasts for approximately 10 minutes. Each period of REM sleep for the rest of the night gets longer and longer.

When we dream, there are cells in the brainstem region of the central nervous system that inhibit our ability to move. So while we may be dreaming of being a Hollywood action movie star at the Oscars, or perhaps walking on the moon, or maybe turning up at your high school reunion naked, our bodies are momentarily paralysed. One assumes that this mechanism has evolved within our species over time for our own safety – to prevent us from hurting ourselves or others. It is interesting to note that the phenomenon of sleepwalking occurs during the deeper states of NREM sleep when we are not temporarily paralysed (source).

This is very interesting, but what does it have to do with Parkinson’s?

Continue reading “A bit of ADLL for RBD” →

Monthly Research Review – August 2024

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during August 2024.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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So, what happened during August 2024?

In world news:

11th August – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces that the Ukrainian military is conducting a cross-border offensive inside Russia’s western Kursk Oblast. Russia says that 76,000 people have been evacuated from the region.

 

12th August – Liquid water is confirmed below the surface of Mars at depths of 10 to 20 km (6.2 to 12.4 miles), based on a new analysis of data from NASA’s InSight lander (Click here to read more about this).

 

14th August – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares mpox a public health emergency of international concern for the second time in two years, following the spread of the virus in African countries.

 

23rd August – BNT116, the world’s first mRNA lung cancer vaccine, begins a Phase I clinical trial in seven countries (Click here to read more about this).

 

28th August – The 2024 Summer Paralympics begin in Paris, France.

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In August 2024, there were 1,088 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (7,928 for all of 2024 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – August 2024” →

Monthly Research Review – July 2024

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during July 2024.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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So, what happened during July 2024?

In world news:

1st July – The “Supreme Court” of the United States of America ruled in a 6–3 decision that US presidents have absolute immunity for acts committed as president within their core constitutional purview, at least presumptive immunity for official acts within the outer perimeter of their official responsibility, and no immunity for unofficial acts (What could possibly go wrong with this…)

 

4th July – 2024 United Kingdom general election: Sir Keir Starmer lead the Labour Party to a landslide victory, returning the party to government for the first time in 14 years. Incumbent Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak resigned as the leader of the party the next day, with Starmer taking office.

 

5 July – The first mouse model with a complete, functional human immune system is demonstrated (Click here to read more about this).

 

19th July – A global IT outage occurred, affecting 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices and causing widespread disruptions to businesses and governments. The outage was caused by a faulty update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike

 

21st July – Incumbent United States President Joe Biden ends his candidacy in the 2024 United States presidential election.

 

26th July – The 2024 Summer Olympics started with a bang in Paris, France.

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In July  2024, there were 901 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (6,840 for all of 2024 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 7 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – July 2024” →

Monthly Research Review – June 2024

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during June 2024.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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So, what happened during June 2024?

In world news:

1st June – The 2024 Indian general election, which began on April 19, concludes with the  BJP party losing its outright majority, but its electoral alliance, the National Democratic Alliance, retains its majority. 642 million voters participated in the election.

 

4th June – Two days after the China National Space Administration’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft lands on the far side of the Moon, it lifts off carrying samples of lunar soil and rocks to bring back to Earth (the samples successfully reached Earth on the 25th June).

 

14th June – The UEFA Euro 2024 start in Germany, and is ultimately won by Spain on the 14th July.

 

20th June – Following a surge in population of the Iberian lynx – from 62 mature individuals in 2001 to 648 in 2022 – the International Union for Conservation of Nature removes the animal from its “endangered” list, classing the animal as “vulnerable” instead.

 

24th June – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaves the United Kingdom after being freed from prison in a plea deal with the United States. He returns to his native Australia two days later.

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In June 2024, there were 1098 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (5,939 for all of 2024 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 6 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – June 2024” →

Monthly Research Review – May 2024

~ Simon ~ 3 Comments

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during May 2024.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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So, what happened during May 2024?

In world news:

May 9th – A cubic millimeter of the human brain is mapped at nanoscale resolution by a team at Google. This contains roughly 57,000 cells and 150 million synapses, incorporating 1.4 petabytes of data (Click here to read more about this).

 

May 10th – A series of solar storms and intense solar flares impact the Earth, creating aurorae at more southerly and northerly latitudes than usual.

 

May 20th – The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court seeks arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar over alleged war crimes.

 

May 30th – Former United States President Donald Trump is found guilty on 34 counts in his hush money trial, the first time any American president has been found guilty of a crime.

 

May 31st – Biologists report that Tmesipteris oblanceolata, a fern ally plant, was found to contain the largest known genome – over 50 times larger than humans (Click here to read more about this).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In May 2024, there were 952 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (4,841 for all of 2024 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – May 2024” →

Monthly Research Review – April 2024

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during April 2024.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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So, what happened during April 2024?

In world news:

April 1st – An entirely new class of antibiotics with potent activity against multi-drug resistant bacteria is discovered. These compounds target a protein called LpxH, and are shown to cure bloodstream infections in mice (Click here to read more about this and click here to read a press summary).

 

April 4th – A study in Nature reported that global CO2 emissions increased by only 0.1% in 2023, suggesting that a plateau may have been reached (Click here to read more about this).

 

April 8th – A total solar eclipse was visible across North America.

 

April 23rd – The world’s largest 3D printer, dubbed Factory of the Future 1.0 (FoF 1.0), was presented by the University of Maine. Using thermoplastic polymers, the machine can print objects as large as 96 feet (29 m) long by 32 feet (9.8 m) wide by 18 feet (5.5 m) high, at a rate of 500 pounds (230 kg) per hour.

 

April 24th – Researchers created synthetic diamond at 1 atmosphere of pressure in approximately 150 minutes without needing seeds (Click here to read more about this and click here to read a press summary).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In April 2024, there were 861 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (3,889 for all of 2024 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 6 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – April 2024” →

A change in fate for Ophthalmate

~ Simon ~ 5 Comments

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Levodopa is a key ingredient in the production of dopamine. As such it is used as a treatment for people with Parkinson’s to help replace levels of dopamine in the brain.

For a long time, the production of dopamine was believed to be the only function of levodopa. But recently, researchers have discovered that levodopa is doing other things in cells, when the dopamine production pathway is blocked.

And their investigations are providing new insights into the brain mechanisms of movement and pointing towards alternative routes to symptomatically treat Parkinson’s.

In today’s post, we will review new research introducing ophthalmic acid (or ophthalmate) to the world of Parkinson’s research.

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Source: Sciencesocks

Between December 18th and 28th, 1995, researchers used the Hubble Space Telescope to take 342 images of a tiny “keyhole” region of the universe (just 1/24 millionth of the whole sky).

The project was called the Hubble Deep Field (or HDF) and it provided the most detailed image of a small region in the constellation Ursa Major (“Great Bear”) ever taken.

Ursa Major (HDF is the pin-hole spot that was imaged).Source: Firstpr

The most shocking detail of that collection of images was that there are over 3,000 objects in them, and all of them were galaxies (similar to our Milky way).

3,000 galaxies (not stars, but galaxies!) in just 1/24 millionth of the whole sky!

Three years later, a similar sized region in the south hemisphere was imaged. That project was called the Hubble Deep Field South and it gave the same results (thousands of galaxies in a tiny fragment of the sky), strengthened the belief that the universe is largely uniform.

Source: NASA

The data led to estimates that there could be as many as 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe (Source).

Interesting intro. Is this post going to be about aliens? Aliens with Parkinson’s?

Continue reading “A change in fate for Ophthalmate” →