New test helps identify Parkinson’s disease

A new test is giving doctors and patients a clearer picture of Parkinson’s disease, and Parkinson’s syndrome. Nuclear medicine specialists at Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) are now using DaTscan – the first Food and Drug Administration-approved imaging agent to help diagnose patients with suspected Parkinsonian syndromes, such as Parkinson’s disease — a neurodegenerative disorder that afflicts nearly 1.5 million Americans, with an additional 50,000 to 60,000 new cases identified each year. ORMC is the first hospital in Central Florida certified to perform the test.

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Parkinson's Disease - New Finding

Small amounts of diseased brain proteins can be taken by healthy neurons and propagated within them to cause neurodegeneration, says study. This finding sheds light on the mechanism associated with Parkinson's disease (PD)and provides a model for discovering early intervention therapeutics that can prevent or slow the devastating loss of neurons that underlies PD.

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Early Parkinson's diagnosis aided by new technology

To diagnose Parkinson's disease, physicians for decades have had to rely largely on a keen eye and experience.
Now the pairing of a new drug and a high-tech nuclear brain scan is offering long-awaited help in recognizing the progressive movement disorder, which has neither a specific diagnostic test nor a cure.

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Physical Therapy Evaluation for Parkinson's Disease

If you have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) your doctor may refer you to many specialists to help you move and function better. A physical therapist is a movement specialist who can assess and treat the motor control and planning changes that occur with the disease.


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Caffeine's buzz chases away women's depression

Compared with uncaffeinated women, those who drank the equivalent of four or more cups of coffee a day are more likely to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes and less likely to volunteer their time in church or community groups. But a new study finds that well-caffeinated women have a key health advantage over their more abstemious sisters: they’re less likely to become depressed.

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Scientists take key step in stem cell therapy

For the first time, scientists have used cloning techniques — inserting genetic material from adult cells into unfertilized human eggs — to create embryonic stem cells.

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Essential Tremor vs. Parkinson’s Disease (ET vs. PD) - Differences & Similarities

Both Essential Tremor and Parkinson's Disease are common movement disorders that affect many people around the world. Tremor shakes can happen at rest, while holding objects, and can also effect the head and the vocal cords. Neither of these movement disorders can be diagnosed with blood tests or MRI/CT brain imaging technologies. However, brain scans can help determine the origin of some movement disorders.

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