Top Parkinson’s News of 2024

October 8, 2024 Pieter Richter

Broad Street is pleased to provide a roundup of 2024’s most exciting Parkinson’s news stories including new treatments, drug developments, promising new brain-protective exercises, legislative policy wins, and more.

FDA Reviewing Four New Parkinson's Medications in 2024

There’s a lot of promise and momentum in Parkinson’s drug development. We started 2024 with the potential for four new Parkinson’s medications to gain approval in the United States. These treatments include the following….

(SOURCE: MICHAEL J. FOX FOUNDATION)

An Ozempic Relative Slowed Parkinson’s Disease in a Small Study

The trial lasted only one year but offered embers of hope to some experts.

In 1817, James Parkinson expressed a hope about the disease that is named after him. He thought that at some point there would be a discovery and “the progress of the disease may be stopped.”

Now, nearly 200 years since Parkinson expressed his hope, and after four decades of unsuccessful clinical trials, a group of French researchers reports the first glimmer of success — a modest slowing of the disease in a one-year study.

(SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES)

High-intensity Exercise May Reverse Neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s Disease

High-intensity exercise induces brain-protective effects that have the potential to not just slow down, but possibly reverse, the neurodegeneration associated with Parkinson’s disease, a new pilot study suggests.

SOURCE: YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Brain Stimulation Technique May Give More Relief from Parkinson’s Symptoms

Scientists say automated adjustment of levels could halve duration of most troublesome symptoms

A fresh approach to brain stimulation could offer people living with Parkinson’s better control over their symptoms and halve the duration of those that trouble them most, experts have said.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

A Potential Parkinson’s Treatment Has Promising Results

A small new trial published in the journal Nature Medicine describes what would be two firsts for Parkinson's disease, if they pan out: a diagnostic test and a potential immune-based treatment that works similarly to a vaccine. The research is still early, but researchers are excited by the prospect of advances for a disease that lacks good diagnostics and treatments.

SOURCE: TIME MAGAZINE

Parkinson's Disease: New Theory on the Disease's Origins and Spread

New hypothesis paper builds on a growing scientific consensus that Parkinson's disease route to the brain starts in either the nose or the gut and proposes that environmental toxicants are the likely source.

SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY

Shaping the Future of Parkinson’s: 2024 State Policy Wins

After a string of successes in 2023, The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s (MJFF) Public Policy team approached this year’s state legislative sessions with two goals: To build on wins to date and to introduce new ways for lawmakers to support the Parkinson’s community in their states.

SOURCE: MICHAEL J. FOX FOUNDATION

Start 2024 Strong with These Parkinson’s-Focused New Year’s Resolutions

Start 2024 off strong! Living with or caring for a loved one with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can change the way you look at new year’s resolutions, which is why we put together this list of goals that can help benefit different aspects of life.

SOURCE: THE PARKINSON’S FOUNDATION