Parkinson’s podcast: stopping disease progression

Resources & Tools

Author: Geoffrey ChangPublished: 9 July 2015

Prep: Cook: Serves:

In the second episode of the Portland Countdown podcast series, Dr Patrik Brundin and Dr Kimberley Gannon discuss how to stop ‘bad’ proteins attacking brain cells

Stopping disease progression: alpha synuclein

Special Guests: Patrik Brundin, MD, PhD and Kimberley Gannon, PhD

Basic researchers are hard at work trying to understand the pathology of Parkinson’s and discover new drug targets. One likely bad actor is a protein called alpha-synuclein.

Hosted by Dave Iverson and Jon Palfreman, Emmy award-winning journalists living with Parkinson’s disease, this episode looks into what we know about how alpha-synuclein kills brain cells and what might be done to stop it, with Dr Patrik Brundin and Dr Kimberley Gannon on hand to offer their expert opinions.

The aim of the Portland Countdown series is to give listeners new perspectives on the latest advances in Parkinson’s research and treatment.

The shows, developed by the World Parkinson Coalition, are aired online on the first Tuesday of every month from June 2015 to September 2016 – when the 4th World Parkinson Congress takes place in Portland, Oregon, USA. The entire series of podcasts will also be downloadable for free.

The full schedule of show topics and guest speaker profiles is available here

Last Month

Next Month

Go Back

Share this story

Comments

Recipes & Nutrition

Salmon fishcakes with chilli and mayo red dressing

These fishcake gems are rich in omega-3 and so easy to prepare

John McEnroe: “I know we’ll reach a future without Parkinson’s”

Tennis legend John McEnroe shows support for Parkinson’s patients

Trouble sleeping? Listen to a free podcast about sleep and Parkinson’s

Discussing a common nocturnal nemesis for people with Parkinson's

Can Covid-19 increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s?

Parkinson’s could be caused or modulated by infections like Covid-19, a new study suggests – though more evidence is needed to draw a definitive conclusion. As part of the study, researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil, drew on previous findings to support their hypothesis. For example, studies in mice have found that infection with some strains of influenza could cause neural changes similar to those in Parkinson’s. Furthermore, people born during or around the 1918 influenza pandemic were over twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s than those born in the decades before or after. Patrik Brundin, co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, said that while it’s “too early to know what the long-term consequences of Covid-19 will be on the brain, the clinical psychiatry and neurology research communities definitely need to be vigilant in monitoring how those who recover from moderate and severe Covid-19 fare in…

New Parkinson’s trial platform could “dramatically speed up the search for a cure”

Scientists have proposed the use of a multi-arm, multi-stage trial platform (MAMS) to assess different potential treatments for Parkinson’s and help progress the search for a cure. This would depart from conventional clinical procedures, allowing several potential treatments to be assessed simultaneously. In a continuous process, each treatment ‘arm’ is evaluated and unsuccessful ‘arms’ of the trial are dropped, enabling a far more cost and time efficient system. Currently, MAMS are used to evaluate treatments for certain types of cancer – and work is underway to develop MAMS for other neurodegenerative conditions. Camille Buchholz Carroll, associate professor at the University of Plymouth, UK, and study author, said that MAMS trials could “dramatically speed up the search for a cure”. She said: “We have the opportunity to learn from the experience in these other conditions and design a new trial that will work for people with Parkinson’s.”

Can higher levels of caffeine and uric acid prevent Parkinson’s?

Higher levels of caffeine and uric acid (a natural waste product) may reduce the risk of Parkinson’s, a new study by researchers in the US has found. As part of the study – published in ‘Journal of Parkinson’s Disease’ – researchers investigated the urate levels and caffeine intake of 566 participants in the Harvard Biomarkers Study, 369 of which had Parkinson’s. The results showed that caffeine intake and uric acid levels were lower in people with Parkinson’s compared to the healthy controls. While the study provides evidence of the link between Parkinson’s and higher uric acid and caffeine levels, the researchers caution that attempts to raise these levels cannot be recommended. Dr Rachit Bakshi, lead investigator of the study, said: “Identifying factors that are linked to lower likelihood of PD, such as caffeine consumption, offer a unique opportunity to understand the disease, and if the link were causal, then possibly…

All fields required

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Enter Email Confirm Email
Country of residence*
About me*
- I have Parkinson's disease
- I am a partner / carer / family / friend of someone who has Parkinson's
- I am a healthcare professional with an interest in Parkinson's
- I work for a Parkinson's disease organisation
- Other
CAPTCHA
*
- By proceeding you agree to our
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Parkinson’s podcast: stopping disease progression

Resources & Tools

Author: Geoffrey ChangPublished: 9 July 2015

Prep: Cook: Serves:

Last Month

Next Month

Share this story

Comments

Recipes & Nutrition

Salmon fishcakes with chilli and mayo red dressing

Global update

John McEnroe: “I know we’ll reach a future without Parkinson’s”

Resources & Tools

Trouble sleeping? Listen to a free podcast about sleep and Parkinson’s

Can Covid-19 increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s?

New Parkinson’s trial platform could “dramatically speed up the search for a cure”

Can higher levels of caffeine and uric acid prevent Parkinson’s?

{title}

Subscribe

Parkinson’s podcast: stopping disease progression

Resources & Tools

Author: Geoffrey ChangPublished: 9 July 2015

Prep: Cook: Serves:

Last Month

Next Month

Share this story

Comments

Related articles

Recipes & Nutrition

Salmon fishcakes with chilli and mayo red dressing

Global update

John McEnroe: “I know we’ll reach a future without Parkinson’s”

Resources & Tools

Trouble sleeping? Listen to a free podcast about sleep and Parkinson’s

Can Covid-19 increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s?

New Parkinson’s trial platform could “dramatically speed up the search for a cure”

Can higher levels of caffeine and uric acid prevent Parkinson’s?

{title}

Subscribe

Sign in