By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Aug. 4, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- The diabetes drug exenatide (Byetta) may do double duty as a treatment for Parkinson's disease, a new study suggests. "This is a very promising finding, as the drug holds potential to affect the course of the disease itself, and not merely the symptoms," said senior study author Tom Foltynie, from University College London's Institute of Neurology. "With existing treatments, we can relieve most of the symptoms [of Parkinson's] for some years, but the disease continues to worsen," he said in a university news release. "This is the strongest evidence we have so far that a drug could do more than provide symptom relief for Parkinson's disease." Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide, the researchers noted. The condition results in muscle stiffness, slowed movement, tremors, sleep disturbance and chronic fatigue. In the study, 60 people with Parkinson's received either a weekly injection of exenatide or an inactive placebo for 48 weeks, along with their regular medications. At the end of that period, those who took the diabetes drug scored four points higher on a 132-point scale of agility, speech and tremors than those who took the … Continue reading →

Welcome to your weekly digest of approaching regulatory and clinical readouts. Adamas Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ADMS) could not be blamed for being confident of the approval prospects of ADS-5102, its therapy for levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease; the FDA is due to decide by August 24. Meanwhile, Versartis (NASDAQ:VSAR) hopes to be first to market with a long-acting recombinant human growth hormone. Phase III data in children, due next month, will provide an indication of whether it can achieve this aim. Lifting the LID If it is approved by the FDA this month, Adamas' ADS-5102 will become the first medicine for treating levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease. The glutamate antagonist has posted decent results in three late-stage trials, and the FDA has not requested an advisory panel - probably a positive sign. Last September the extended-release formulation of amantadine hit the primary endpoint of its second phase III trial, Ease Lid 3, showing a significant reduction on the unified dyskinesia rating scale versus placebo. After 12 weeks of treatment patients taking ADS-5102 had their UDysRS score reduced by 46% versus 16% for placebo. ADS-5102 increased on-time without troublesome dyskinesia by a placebo-adjusted 1.9 hours per day, and off-time was decreased by 1.1 … Continue reading →

A new drug known as D-512 is being developed at New York's Binghamton University to treat Parkinson's disease. It promises to limit the progression of Parkinson's disease while also relieving symptoms more effectively than drugs currently available. About 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson's every year, and thousands more remain undiagnosed. It's considered a disease of aging, since the onset of symptoms occurs around the age of 60 and the risk rises with advancing age. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease include tremors, difficulty standing and moving, involuntary movements, and loss of balance. Currently, symptoms are commonly managed using selective dopamine receptor agonists, but they lose effectiveness as the disease progresses and do nothing to slow progression of the disease. In an animal study, researchers compared the effects of D-512 to the dopamine agonist ropinirole. They found that D-512 was more effective than ropinirole in treating the symptoms of Parkinson's disease while also prolonging the time window in which the animals showed benefits. Prior research demonstrated that D-512 may also protect against the progression of Parkinson's disease. "A major issue for Parkinson's disease patients is the need to take multiple medications, multiple times per day," said researcher David Lindenbach. "So, we were … Continue reading →

Photo: Erin Kayata / Hearst Connecticut Media Marlane Argianas of the American Parkinson Disease Association, from left, with Ilene Sumberg and Beth Blake at Atria Darien on July 24. Marlane Argianas of the American Parkinson Disease Association, from left, with Ilene Sumberg and Beth Blake at Atria Darien on July 24. Atria Darien offers Parkinsons support group DARIEN When Elizabeth Harmon was first diagnosed with Parkinsons disease in 2012, she immediately joined a local support group. Through the group, the former St. Augustine, Fla., resident had once-a-week exercise sessions with trainers from the University of St. Augustine, as well as support from other community members with the same disease. Thats where I became involved, she said. It was a great group of people with a great leader. I was very much into it. When Harmon moved to Atria Darien last July, she found the senior living center lacked the same sort of support group. So she went to Ilene Sumberg, the centers resident relations director, and Beth Blake, the engage life director, to change that. Parkinsons disease affects the central nervous system, often affecting a patients movement. Symptoms of Parkinsons include tremors, muscle stiffness and slow movement. It can also … Continue reading →

Scientists in California say they have transformed understanding of Parkinsons disease. Their animal experiments, published in the journal Cell, suggest the brain disorder may be caused by bacteria living in the gut. The findings could eventually lead to new ways of treating the disease, such as drugs to kill gut bugs or probiotics. Experts said the results opened an exciting new avenue of study. In Parkinsons disease the brain is progressively damaged, leading to patients experiencing a tremor and difficulty moving. Researchers used mice genetically programmed to develop Parkinsons as they produced very high levels of the protein alpha-synuclein, which is associated with damage in the brains of Parkinsons patients. But only those animals with bacteria in their stomachs developed symptoms. Sterile mice remained healthy. Further tests showed transplanting bacteria from Parkinsons patients to mice led to more symptoms than bacteria taken from healthy people. Dr Timothy Sampson, one of the researchers at the California Institute of Technology, said: This was the eureka moment, the mice were genetically identical, the only difference was the presence or absence of gut microbiota. Now we were quite confident that gut bacteria regulate, and are even required for, the symptoms of Parkinsons disease. The … Continue reading →