Norman’s conquest

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Author: Geoffrey ChangPublished: 14 May 2015

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Norman Yarrow, a 55-year-old living with Parkinson’s from Scotland, has successfully completed a 215-mile walk along the Southern Upland Way for Parkinson’s UK and The Cure Parkinson’s Trust – passing his fundraising target of £250,000, and counting.

Naming the challenge ‘Norman’s Conquest’, Yarrow completed the walk in 14 days through “sunshine, snow, driving rain and wind”, walking an average of 15 miles a day – an impressive feat for someone who was diagnosed in 2013.

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UK-based tech company Charco Neurotech has secured $10 million in seed investment funding to support the launch of a non-invasive wearable device designed for people with Parkinson’s disease. CUE1 is a circular device worn on the sternum, which is designed to help alleviate Parkinson’s symptoms through specialised vibrations that are personalised for each patient. The investment round, which was co-led by venture capital company Amadeus Capital Partners and growth fund managers Parkwalk Advisors, is the largest European seed financing in 2021 for a heath technology device – and the sixth largest globally. Lucy Jung, co-founder and CEO of Charco Neurotech, said: “This funding will enable us to proceed with our first, limited launch, while we work to ensure our manufacturing line is robust and produces consistent high quality devices.” Charco also recently announced a new partnership with the European Parkinson’s Disease Association (EPDA), to help increase the availability of Charco’s…

Does Parkinson’s disease start in the nose?

An international team led by the University of Ottawa in Canada will study whether the scent-processing nerves inside the nose may play a part in the development of Parkinson’s disease. The researchers will explore potential connections between inflammation, environmental exposures in the nasal cavity, odour processing centres in the brain and Parkinson’s-related genes. The scientists hope that if the study indicates that Parkinson’s starts in the nose, early signs of the condition could potentially be detected sooner. This research, which will use human and animal models, has been made possible by a US $9m grant from the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative, which aims to improve understanding of the causes of the condition. “This grant will allow us to explore an understudied but important aspect of Parkinson’s, which could lead to new approaches for early treatment and prevention,” said Professor Michael Schlossmacher, team leader of the study.

Study finds gene therapy may restore effects of Parkinson’s drug

Levodopa is a drug commonly used to treat Parkinson’s as it helps to increase dopamine levels in the brain and improve problems with movement. In later stages of the condition, however, this treatment can become less effective. Now, findings from a US preclinical study have suggested that a new gene therapy may help to restore the effects of levodopa in people with the condition. The researchers used mice models of Parkinson’s to test the effects of the gene therapy, targeting a small region in the brain where dopamine-releasing neurons are present. They found that the therapy increased the neurons’ ability to convert levodopa to dopamine – and discovered that damage to the mitochondria in dopamine-releasing neurons may be enough to trigger Parkinson’s onset. The scientists hope their findings will encourage the development of therapies to preserve the function of these neurons, and support patients in the later stages of Parkinson’s.

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Norman’s conquest

News

Author: Geoffrey ChangPublished: 14 May 2015

Prep: Cook: Serves:

Last Month

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Tony Hawks: why laughter may be the best medicine

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World Parkinson Congress 2019 Bloggers: Mariëtte Robijn

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Cramping more than your style

Wearable device for Parkinson’s disease raises $10m in funding

Does Parkinson’s disease start in the nose?

Study finds gene therapy may restore effects of Parkinson’s drug

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Norman’s conquest

News

Author: Geoffrey ChangPublished: 14 May 2015

Last Month

Next Month

Share this story

Comments

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Interviews

Tony Hawks: why laughter may be the best medicine

Perspectives

World Parkinson Congress 2019 Bloggers: Mariëtte Robijn

Resources & Tools

Cramping more than your style

Wearable device for Parkinson’s disease raises $10m in funding

Does Parkinson’s disease start in the nose?

Study finds gene therapy may restore effects of Parkinson’s drug

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