Parkinson's disease

Placebos: more than meets the eye

Often dismissed as fakes, placebos seem to work on the same brain pathways targeted by ‘real’ treatments and involve a complex network of genes.…

Antimalaria drugs could be an effective treatment for Parkinson’s disease

Two antimalarials were found to activate a receptor in the brain that is involved in protecting neurons that are lost in Parkinson’s disease.…

Clinical Pharmacist’s monthly news round-up: the top 10 in the past month

What has been happening in the world of pharmacy? Here’s our pick of must-read news from the past month.…

Psychiatric drugs can affect moral decisions about willingness to harm

Commonly prescribed psychiatric drugs can influence moral decisions about self-harm or inflicting harm on others, according to new research.…

Review collates evidence on increased risk of death for anticholinergics

A new systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that patients using any drug with anticholinergic effects have a 45% increased risk of cognitive impairment.…

Welsh pharmacies offer Parkinson’s MURs in awareness campaign

Patients with Parkinson’s disease offered medicines advice and support at pharmacies in Wales.…

Obtaining consent from patients is not always straightforward

How do you obtain consent when the patient is unable to give it?…

Creatine does not slow progression in Parkinson’s disease, study finds

Five years of creatine at a dose of 10mg/day does not slow disease progression in patients with early, stable Parkinson’s disease, a study published in JAMA shows.…

Eltoprazine could tackle dyskinesia side effect in Parkinson’s disease, study suggests

Researchers have evaluated the use of eltoprazine, a selective partial agonist at the 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B receptors, for its ability to counteract dyskinesias.…

Perception of drug cost influences placebo response in Parkinson’s disease

Treatment perceived to be expensive, even though it was a placebo, led to a two-fold improvement in motor function in Parkinson’s disease patients compared with a treatment perceived to be cheap.…