New drug approved for OFF episodes Posted on April 27, 2020 by Phil Franchina Today, Neurocrine Biosciences announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ONGENTYS ® (opicapone), a new medication for treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Opicapone is a catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor to be used once-daily as an add-on treatment to levodopa for patients who are experiencing OFF time with their current medication regimen. Opicapone is in […] Read More
CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 AND THE PD COMMUNITY Posted on March 20, 2020December 30, 2021 by Phil Franchina APDA COVID-19 INFORMATION & RESOURCES: The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation, particularly as it relates to our Parkinson’s disease (PD) community. This page is updated regularly as new information becomes available. What is a COVID variant? Do vaccines against COVID-19 protect against these as well? The COVID-19 virus, like […] Read More
The 26th Annual Parkinson’s Unity Walk Posted on January 13, 2020January 13, 2020 by Phil Franchina The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is a proud partner of the 26th Annual Parkinson’s Unity Walk taking place on Saturday, April 25, 2020 in Central Park, New York City. 100% of donations raised by the event will go to research funded by the leading PD foundations, including APDA. In addition to raising awareness and funds […] Read More
The FDA approves F-Dopa PET imaging to aid in early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease Posted on January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 by Dr. Rebecca Gilbert The FDA approves F-Dopa PET imaging to aid in early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease The FDA recently approved Flourodopa F18 (F-Dopa), a radioactive tracer for positron emission tomography (PET) that can help visualize the nerve endings of dopaminergic neurons. It can be used to help in the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other parkinsonian […] Read More
Deep brain stimulation and swimming Posted on December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by Phil Franchina Deep brain stimulation and swimming Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptoms in which small wires are inserted deep into the brain to deliver electrical current that allows for maintenance of more normal movement. DBS is particularly helpful for those with medication-resistant tremors as well as for those who […] Read More
Promising results from the University of Pittsburgh APDA Center for Advanced Research Posted on October 24, 2019December 12, 2019 by Phil Franchina Promising results from the University of Pittsburgh APDA Center for Advanced Research Building off of pivotal APDA-funded work highlighted here, Dr. J. Timothy Greenamyre and his team, published a new study investigating the role of Leucine-rich Repeat Kinase (LRRK2) in the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). LRRK2 is known to be mutated in a small […] Read More
Taking Parkinson’s education to the farmers market: educating under-served communities Posted on September 16, 2019September 16, 2019 by Phil Franchina Taking Parkinson’s education to the farmers market: educating under-served communities Dr. Lynda Nwabuobi, Movement Disorder Fellow at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, attended APDA’s Diversity in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) Research Conference in May and was inspired. Dr. Nwabuobi had just spent the day learning about health care disparities in PD care, low […] Read More
New medication, Istradefylline, gets approved for Parkinson’s disease Posted on September 4, 2019 by Phil Franchina New medication, Istradefylline, gets approved for Parkinson’s disease On August 27, 2019, pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin received FDA approval for Istradefylline, a new medication for Parkinson’s disease (PD) to be used as an add-on treatment to carbidopa/levodopa for those experiencing OFF episodes. (For more information on OFF periods in PD, please see this recent APDA […] Read More
APDA Seed Funding Leads to Prestigious NIH Research Grant Posted on August 16, 2019August 16, 2019 by Phil Franchina APDA Seed Funding Leads to Prestigious NIH Research Grant APDA is exceptionally proud to congratulate Dr. Beom-Chan Lee, APDA Research Grant awardee on receiving a recently-awarded National Institutes of Health (NIH) R21 grant. Read More
APDA-funded research finds new role for alpha-synuclein Posted on July 30, 2019July 31, 2019 by Phil Franchina APDA-funded research finds new role for alpha-synuclein This new understanding of alpha-synuclein’s function could open up new ways of thinking about treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Read More
