NOKOMIS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As Rainbow Coral Corp. (RBCC) nears a new joint venture agreement to commercialize advances made by Amarantus BioSciences (AMBS), the companys latest target continues to seek out additional investment capital from high-profile investors. Amarantus Chief Science Officer John W. Commissiong recently presented his organizations brilliant MANF therapeutic protein for Parkinsons disease at the Scientific Session of CNS Summit 2012 in Boca Raton. The CNS Summit brings together researchers, developers and investors to collaborate in bringing new treatments to patients suffering from brain disorders. The high-profile event put Amarantus proprietary, anti-apoptosis therapeutic protein in the spotlight in front of researchers and investors from around the world. We continue to be very impressed with Amarantus outreach efforts toward potential investors and clients alike, said RBCC CEO Patrick Brown. We look forward to wrapping up our joint venture agreement shortly, and then our first priority will be moving their groundbreaking therapeutics forward toward full commercialization. Both companies forswear realizing revenues from the impending commercialization of Amarantus NuroPro, a sophisticated test developed to more accurately and easily diagnose Parkinsons disease. By cutting the typical timeline from years to only one year, RBCC and its shareholders believe they will see larger profits … Continue reading →

Parkinson's, Dementia & Mental Health Promising Drug Slows Down Advance of Parkinson's Disease and Improves Symptoms GM1 ganglioside slowed progression of disease in patients over at least a 2-year period; once the participants went off drug, their disease worsened Nov. 30, 2012 - Treating Parkinson's disease patients with the experimental drug GM1 ganglioside improved symptoms and slowed their progression during a two and a half-year trial, Thomas Jefferson University researchers report in a new study published online November 28 in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences. Although the precise mechanisms of action of this drug are still unclear, the drug may protect patients' dopamine-producing neurons from dying and at least partially restore their function, thereby increasing levels of dopamine, the key neurochemical missing in the brain of Parkinson's patients. The research team, led by senior author Jay S. Schneider, Ph.D., Director of the Parkinson's Disease Research Unit and Professor in the Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology and the Department of Neurology at Jefferson, found that administration of GM1 ganglioside, a substance naturally enriched in the brain that may be diminished in Parkinson's disease brains, acted as a "neuroprotective" and a "neurorestorative" agent to improve symptoms and over an … Continue reading →

By Kathleen Doheny WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD Nov. 28, 2012 -- For many people with Parkinson's disease, depression affects quality of life more than the symptoms such as shaking, according to new research. "At least 50% of people with Parkinson's have depression," says Michael S. Okun, MD, national medical director of the National Parkinson Foundation and professor of neurology at the Center for Movement Disorders at the University of Florida, Gainesville. That was a main finding of the Parkinson's Outcomes Project, a report released today by the National Parkinson Foundation. "The big news is how large of a role depression plays in Parkinson's disease, how under-diagnosed and under-treated it is," says Joyce Oberdorf, CEO and president of the foundation. The impact of depression on the health of people with Parkinson's is nearly twice that of movement problems, the researchers found. About 1 million people in the U.S. and more than 4 million worldwide have the disease. It is marked by tremors and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination. Beginning in 2009, the researchers evaluated the care of more than 5,500 patients, ages 25 to 95. They went to 20 Centers of Excellence in the U.S., Canada, … Continue reading →

Time for discussion on role of "purpose-driven" spiritual depression treatments alongside physiological ones, says faith-based website, followme.org. (PRWEB) November 29, 2012 That statement came today as the National Parkinson's Foundation (NPF) released new findings that depression appears in over 60 percent of Parkinson's patients, according to a USA Today report from Wednesday. "Nearly everyone thinks of the disease as a mobility disorder but the No. 1 problem turns out to be depression," Joyce Oberdorf, the president of the NPF, told USA Today. Parkinson's affects 1 million Americans and 5 million people worldwide. Its primary indicators are tremors, slow movement, difficulties speaking, and stiffness. The ongoing NPF study, the Parkinson's Outcome Project, is the largest ever undertaken on Parkinson's, according to USA Today. The project involves 20 research centers in four countries and considers the results of over 5,500 patients, ranging from ages 25 to 95. The results are based on annual health surveys that Parkinson's patients completed, according to a WebMD report from Wednesday. According to the NPF, 61 percent of Parkinson's patients reported suffering from depression, with 18 percent of patients wrestling from major disorders, USA Today reported. Why is depression so common among Parkinson's patients? "It's not because … Continue reading →