Research

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a therapy that has been administered to over 100,000 patients worldwide. The majority of people receiving deep brain stimulation live with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The technique has been helpful for improving tremor, on-off fluctuations, dyskinesia, and off time. One of the main limitations of deep brain stimulation has been that it requires brain surgery and carries an associated risk of hemorrhage, stroke, infection, and hardware failure.

Part of Steven Goldenthal’s job is to get people connected. He wants to know how they feel, gets to know their medical history, what medications they take and if they are happy with their Parkinson’s disease (PD) care.

Considerable evidence has been mounting in support of a relationship between the gastrointestinal (GI) system and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Many pathologists and neurologists even believe that Parkinson’s may start in the gut, but this view remains speculative. Many GI symptoms, such as constipation, occur as prominent and disabling PD symptoms. In the July 2013 What’s Hot in PD? column, I addressed H.

Ted Dawson, PhD, and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University, a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence, have uncovered a potential new approach to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD). Researchers in Dawson’s laboratory focused on a protein called lymphocyte-activation gene 3, known as LAG3. This protein has been shown to be important in cell to cell transfers of α-synuclein (Lewy bodies), which is a protein found in the brain of a person with PD.