Thursday, May 9, 2024

Pilates may ease Parkinson’s disease upper limb bradykinesia

Along with medication and a range of treatment options, regular physical exercise can help people with Parkinson’s ease motor symptoms. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, a six-week Pilates-based exercise program helped reduce bradykinesia of the upper limbs in a small group of people with Parkinson’s.

Pilates consists of exercises that use controlled movements and breathing to strengthen muscles, gain flexibility, and correct posture while sitting and standing. “Because most Pilates exercises comprise bilateral coordination tasks…we hypothesized that [they] may improve not only upper limb muscle strength but also bradykinesia and dexterity,” the researchers wrote. Click here to learn more. 

Leprosy drug may be effective in Huntington's disease, study suggests

A preclinical study from Karolinska Institutet offers hope for treating neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington's disease, with the leprosy drug clofazimine. The research group examined whether existing drugs could reduce the toxicity of so-called polyQ proteins, which are found in patients with certain hereditary diseases such Huntington's. The findings are published in the journal eBioMedicine. Click here to learn more.

Study shows cerebellum involved in processing emotions, with implications for ataxia care

To investigate the role the cerebellum plays in fear learning, two neuroscientists: Professors Melanie Mark from Ruhr-University Bochum and Dagmar Timmann from the University of Duisburg-Essen, conducted classic fear-conditioning experiments comparing healthy humans and mice with those with ataxia.

The direct comparison of healthy subjects and people with ataxia confirmed the assumption that people with ataxia have deficits when learning and unlearning fear. Not only did the acquisition and consolidation of the learned fear response take longer than in the healthy control group, but unlearning the fear was also more prolonged. Click here to learn more. 

High comorbidity, polypharmacy burden in patients with tardive dyskinesia in LTC Settings

Patients with tardive dyskinesia (TD) in long-term care (LTC) settings have a high comorbidity and polypharmacy burden, with almost half taking medications that can actually worsen TD, according to a poster presentation at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in New York. Patients participating in the study had an average Charlson Comorbidity Index score of 3.72, and mood disorders affected over 66% of patients. Click here to learn more. 

Therapeutic target identified to neutralize toxic forms of Parkinson's-associated protein

Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona have identified a region in the early aggregates, or oligomers, of the alpha-synuclein protein that can be targeted to prevent its conversion into the toxic amyloid fibrils that accumulate in the brains of people suffering from Parkinson's disease.

The study was also relevant in delving deeper into the molecular mechanisms behind familial Parkinson's. This variant, which usually affects people of a younger age, is frequently associated with mutations located within the P2 region of the alpha-synuclein, such as the G51D mutation, which produces one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Click here to learn more.