Latest News in Parkinson Disease: Treating Advanced Disease, Updated AAN Guidelines on Dementia Care, and More

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

Common Strategies to Manage Advanced PD

In a Peer Exchange series by NeurologyLive^®, titled “Recognizing and Managing Advanced Parkinson Disease,” panelists discussed common strategies in managing concerns related to advanced PD.

Notably, educating patients on the significance of OFF and ON periods was addressed, particularly timing of medication and how it can contribute to the occurrence or worsening of PD-related symptoms. As panelists explained, taking levodopa when dopamine levels are already high could subject people with PD to dyskinesia, and waiting until after dopamine levels are too low can also lead to symptom burden.

Moreover, as those with advanced disease are more likely to experience OFF periods, adjusting or adding to the currently prescribed medication, device-aided therapy, or a combination of both may be warranted to maintain an optimal dopamine level.

AAN Issues Ethical Guidance on Dementia Diagnosis, Care

This week, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) issued an updated ethical guidance for neurologists and neuroscience professionals who manage the care of patients with Alzheimer disease and other dementias.

Published in Neurology, the position statement addresses how to approach day-to-day ethical problems in the course of dementia care, which include communication of dementia diagnosis with those affected and their families, the use of genetic and biomarker testing, and underlying ethnic/racial disparities in risk and diagnosis of dementia.

The new ethical guidance serves as an update to the AAN’s 1996 position statement on ethical considerations for dementia care. As the guidance was developed before the FDA approval of aducanumab, it does not address the drug.

Advances in Neuromodulation for Movement Disorders

As reported by NeurologyLive^®, a session presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 73rd Annual Meeting held virtually April 17-22, 2021, discussed the latest advancements and knowledge in neuromodulation for patients with movement disorders.

Focusing primarily on deep brain stimulation (DBS), researchers of one of the spotlighted studies provided 4-year follow-up data from the prospective double-blind INTREPID trial assessing Boston Scientific’s FDA-approved Vercise DBS system in the treatment of OFF time among patients with PD.

In their findings, patients of the intervention group exhibited a mean difference of 3.03 ± 4.52 hours (P < .001) of increased ON time without dyskinesia, with a 46% improvement observed in Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale-3 scores after 3 years, compared with the reference group.