Latest News in Parkinson Disease: Expectations for 2021 IFN Meeting, Future of Advanced Disease Care, and More

An overview of the latest news in Parkinson disease (PD) reported across MJH Life Sciences^™.

Previewing 2021 International Congress on the Future of Neurology

As reported by NeurologyLive^®, the third annual International Congress on the Future of Neurology is set to be held in a virtual format on September 17-18, which will feature the latest research on new gene therapy trials for Huntington disease and PD.

Several current and future diagnostic concepts for neurological disorders will be presented, including multidisciplinary care strategies for optimizing patient outcomes, strategies for management of treatment-related toxicities, and the evaluations of emerging therapeutic agents.

Target audiences for the meeting are movement disorder specialists and other physicians who treat patients with neurologic disorders, along with nurses and fellows.

Spotlighting Innovations, Future Trends in the Management of Advanced PD

In a Peer Exchange series by NeurologyLive^®, titled “Recognizing and Managing Advanced Parkinson Disease,” panelists addressed the future of investigational therapies and care management in the treatment of advanced PD.

Speaking on innovations within the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS), panelists noted the potential of advanced imaging and the ability to sense brain signals. Through these novel capabilities, DBS may be able to be delivered in a fundamentally different way than is currently provided, in which treatment is personalized to an on-demand, fluctuating approach that administers dopamine when a person needs it as opposed to a constant ON state.

Furthermore, to improve awareness of emerging therapies and better align care with the latest updates in advanced PD, a network between institutions working on advanced therapies and general neurologists via telecommunication was recommended.

Late-Stage PD Linked With Phase Advance, Amplitude Reduction

According to cross-sectional study findings, older adults with PD (n = 157) were shown to exhibit a phase advance in circadian rhythm and amplitude reduction compared with community-dwelling older adults without the condition (n = 1111).

Reported by NeurologyLive^®, physical activity was measured in participants via wrist actigraphy and analyzed with the fitness of regression (R2) model. In their findings, older adults with PD had less time of day with peak activity (acrophase) than the control group, with those who had late-stage PD shown to exhibit decreased levels of acrophase and amplitude than early-stage participants with PD.

Significant associations were also found between progression of PD stage and older age, PD duration, and daily levodopa equivalent dose.