New Discoveries in Parkinson’s Disease

September 28th, 2016

For about 1 million people in the United States with Parkinson’s disease, everyday skills like walking and talking are a challenge. A degenerative neurological disease characterized by tremor, slowness, and gait and balance difficulties, Parkinson’s is caused by the degeneration and loss of neurons in the brain, particularly those crucial for the initiation and coordination of movement. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh now understand why a protein related to the disease is so toxic to the brain, a finding that has the potential to lead to new therapies that could slow or stop progression of the devastating illness.

http://www.upmc.com/media/NewsReleases/2016/Pages/greenamyre.aspx