Links and More Links

No not sausage links, website links! I thought I would devote this post to what’s going on in the Parkinson’s world.  As you know I follow a number of other Parkinson’s blogs and here are a few items of interest from month or so, click on the link to read the entire post (will open in a new tab).

Inosine Trial Secures Phase III Funding to Study Effect on Slowing Parkinson’s.  Inosine is a precursor to the antioxidant of urate. Observational studies had shown people with higher levels of urate had lower risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and, if diagnosed with PD, slower disease progression. The trial will start early next year in 60 sites.

Parkinson’s Psychosis Drug One Step Closer to FDA Approval Acadia Pharmaceuticals announced  that it has submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA seeking approval for its drug Nuplazid (the compound pimavanserin) for the treatment of psychosis associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD).  Current drugs used to treat PD psychosis have safety concerns and serious side effects for PD patients.  A Phase III study showed the drug significantly reduced psychosis compared to placebo without worsening motor function. The study also showed the drug was safe and well tolerated.

How to Find the Right Dr   Some excellent suggestions from the Parkinson’s Community on linking up with the right Doctor for PD treatment.  My recommendation –  if possible, link up with a Movement Disorder Specialist.

10 Breakthrough Therapies for Parkinson’s Disease The NPF Medical Director, Dr. Michael Okun, has published a new book covering new therapies for PD.  I purchased a copy the day it was released and it is an excellent book, as was his first book,  “Parkinson’s Treatment 10 Secrets to a Happier Life with Parkinson’s Disease”.  He has an excellent writing style and there are chapters covering new drugs (released and in the pipeline), effects of exercise, coffee, tea and Marijuana, new DBS advances and stem cell therapies among others.  I highly recommend both of his books.

How Do I Know If I’m Doing the Right Thing When I Exercise?
A post from PD Gladiators, an Atlanta based non profit devoted to combating PD with vigorous exercise.  There has been a lot of emphasis on the benefits of exercise and this post discusses what exercise is optimal and how often you should exercise.

Delay the Disease, an Ohio based exercise program, is offering the Handwriting Challenge This program involves doing four simple exercises every day for 12 weeks.  The exercises should take about 10 minutes to complete and are designed to test a theory they have that large muscle exercises will improve motor dexterity including micrographia (tiny handwriting).  Every three weeks you write out the same sentence with the hope that your handwriting improves. Even if it doesn’t the exercises can’t hurt!

What’s It Like Having PD   An excellent post by Bruce Ballard who blogs as Parking Suns. Those of us with PD will agree with these ideas to simulate PD for people who don’t have PD.  I found numbers 1 and 2 an accurate description of what it feels like without medication, I’m sure you will find a few that match your symptoms too.

Coming up, Mara and I will be attending the second “Rallying to the Challenge” event organized by the Cure Parkinson’s Trust and the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, MI at the end of September.  I wrote about the first meeting here and this years meeting will center on how to introduce new technology and additional personalized patient-centric measures into clinical trials.  We are looking forward to catching up with members of our Global support group, meeting new members and enjoying the ArtPrize festival in downtown Grand Rapids.

OK, if you have followed every link in this post, you have a bunch of tab’s open and your browser is getting ready to explode so I’ll stop with a quick reminder, sign up for Fox Trial Finder (click on the button above and open one more tab).