The outcome of the analysis of health data related to 107,598 patients with Parkinson’s disease.
American researchers analyzed the data related to 107,598 patients with Parkinson’s disease, included in clinical trials to establish their risk of developing a malignancy. They found that such risk was 27% lower vs controls without the disease. The reduction in risk increased up to 31% when skin cancer was excluded and regarded both smoking related (-39%) and non smoking related cancers (-24%).
Source: Bajaj A et al Cancer causes control online 7 January 2010 |
Swiss researchers say so
Researchers working at the University of Basel conducted a retrospective study on a large number of subjects using the research database of UK GPs (UK General Practice Research Database). They compared the diagnoses of cancer between the patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease between 1994 and 2005 and a similar sample of subjects who did not have the disease. The risk of cancer was 23% lower in patients with Parkinson’s disease. In particular, the risk of a malignant tumor related to smoking, such as lung or bladder carcinoma, was 53% lower and the risk of hematological malignancy was 68% lower. The only exception was melanoma.
Source: Becker C et al Parkinsonism Relat Disord online 27 november 2009 |
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Another finding that suggests that the asymptomatic phase of the disease is very long
American researchers at the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minnesota (US) analyzed the health records of people living at Olmsted from 1976 to 1995.
They found 196 patients with Parkinson’s disease and compared them with 196 subjects without the disease, matched by age and gender, in terms of their history of constipation. They found that 36% of the patients had a history of constipation before onset, whereas only 20% of the subjects did. The difference remained large even after correction for other risk factors, such as smoking and consumption of coffee and when the analysis was restricted to only long-term history of constipation (20 years or more).
Source: Savica et al Neurology 2009; 73: 1752-1758 |
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First study shows reduction in OFF time
The results of a preliminary phase II study with a new delayed release formulation of levodopa were presented at the American Academy of Neurology, which was held at Toronto in April 2010. The study included 27 patients with Parkinson’s disease, motor fluctuations and OFF periods (when medications do not work) amounting to at least 3 hours a day. The patients were all on stable levodopa-based therapy administered on average 5.4 times a day. The switch to the new formulation, which required 4 administrations daily, produced a significant reduction in OFF time on average from 5.8 hours to 3.8 hours (p<0.0001) and a significant increase in ON time without disrupting involuntary movements (on average 11.9 hours vs 10.1 hours p=0.002). Furthermore, plasma levels of levodopa were more stable with the new formulation.
The formulation is being developed by the American company Impax Pharmaceuticals , founded in 2006. It specializes in modified release formulation of drugs for diseases of the central nervous system
Source: Hsu et al Acts of Toronto Abstract no A350
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