Jul 16, 2026
24-week daily routine is designed to improve mobility, digestion, mental health
Written by Marisa Horak, MS | July 15, 2026
- A new yoga program for early Parkinson's disease is heading to a clinical trial.
- The 24-week routine is designed to improve mobility, balance, and motor symptoms.
- It also addresses nonmotor symptoms like digestion, anxiety, and mental well-being.
A newly developed yoga program designed specifically to improve mobility and mental well-being for people in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease is heading to a clinical trial.
Developed by a trio of scientists, the customized program was recently detailed in the journal Annals of Neurosciences, under the article titled “Development and Validation of a Customised Yoga Therapy Module for People Living with Early Parkinsonism.”
While yoga is a centuries-old practice combining physical exercise with meditation, not all of its many modern styles are ideal for someone with a movement disorder. However, research shows that the right kind of yoga can ease stiffness, improve balance, and reduce anxiety and depression for those living with Parkinson’s.
Jul 15, 2026
Here are some ways to maintain, improve, and enhance communication
Written by Jamie Askari | July 14, 2026
When most people hear the words “Parkinson’s disease,” typically the first thing that comes to mind is tremors. Before my husband was diagnosed, I had the misconception that a person with Parkinson’s was always a cute older man with thinning gray hair and a shaky hand.
For my husband, who was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease at age 38, tremors and shaking have never been an issue for him, other than as a side effect of his medications. His initial symptoms were slowness, stiffness, fatigue, an intention tremor, dystonia, and balance issues.
After he underwent deep brain stimulation surgery, we started noticing the onset of a new symptom: speech challenges. We’re not sure if this was due to Parkinson’s progression or if it was related to the surgery. We’ll probably never know.
Over time, his voice has become softer and weaker, often sounding hoarse or blurred. Additionally, he may also speak rapidly and with a stutter.
The lack of facial expression that he experiences is another characteristic of Parkinson’s disease. This facial masking may make it seem like he isn’t listening or engaged. Unless you are speaking about something terribly boring, he is probably interested; it just might not show on his face.
Additionally, it is common for individuals with Parkinson’s to lose their train of thought, which can make conversation a challenge for them.
Jul 14, 2026
Maybe one meaningful thing we can do is let our loved ones speak for themselves
Written by Crystal Onyema | June 24, 2026
As my late Uncle Brandon’s Parkinson’s disease progressed, my family became increasingly involved in helping him navigate appointments, medications, physical therapy, and everyday life.
But somewhere along the way, we started making mistakes. At times, we began talking about Uncle Brandon more than we talked to him. At first, it seemed harmless. When we attended doctor appointments or physical therapy sessions, healthcare providers would often direct questions toward us.
How was his gait? How were his tremors? How was his sleep? Was he eating well? How often was he exercising? How was his mobility around the house? Before long, one of us would jump in with an answer. After all, we spent a lot of time with him and wanted to be helpful. We knew his routines, his challenges, and the things he sometimes forgot to mention.
Meanwhile, Uncle Brandon would sit there looking less and less amused as everyone around him answered questions about his life for him. He didn’t always say anything, but the expression alone told us exactly what he was thinking.
Jul 13, 2026
Updated sasineprocel formulation makes it easier to manufacture, deliver
Written by Andrea Lobo | July 2, 2026
- Sasineprocel, a cell therapy for Parkinson's, uses patient's reprogrammed skin cells to replace lost dopamine neurons.
- A new "thaw-and-inject" formulation is being tested for easier manufacturing and delivery.
- Early trial data shows the therapy is safe and improves motor symptoms and daily functioning.
Aspen Neuroscience has expanded its ongoing Phase 1/2a clinical trial by dosing two new groups of Parkinson’s disease patients with sasineprocel (ANPD001). For the first time in the study, these participants received a new, commercial-ready formulation of the cell therapy designed to make future manufacturing and treatment delivery much easier to scale.
This formulation utilizes cryopreserved, “thaw-and-inject” cells that are ready for dosing at the clinical site.
The open-label ASPIRO study (NCT06344026) is testing the safety and tolerability of sasineprocel over one year in adults with moderate-to-severe Parkinson’s.
“We are proud to reach this important milestone, which reflects meaningful progress in the sasineprocel program and underscores the growing clinical experience with our personalized, autologous approach,” Damien McDevitt, PhD, Aspen’s president and CEO, said in a company press release. “Importantly, the use of our commercial formulation in these cohorts represents a critical step toward scalable manufacturing and commercial readiness as we prepare for Phase 3 initiation.”
Replacing lost dopamine neurons
Parkinson’s is caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons, which are the nerve cells that produce dopamine, a brain signaling molecule involved in motor control. Impaired dopamine signaling in the brain leads to Parkinson’s symptoms, including slowed movements, rigidity, tremors, and balance issues.
Sasineprocel is an autologous cell therapy designed to replace these gradually lost dopaminergic neurons. The process begins by collecting skin cells from the patient, which are then reprogrammed in the lab into induced pluripotent stem cells.
These cells are then guided to develop into dopaminergic neuronal precursors, which are delivered to the patient via MRI-guided injection into the putamen, a brain region involved in Parkinson’s disease, where they’re expected to mature into functional dopaminergic neurons.
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Jul 10, 2026
28 Jun 2026 Katrina Thornber American Medical Journal
WOMEN with Parkinson’s disease may be more prone to Alzheimer’s-related brain changes than men, according to autopsy research presented today at the European Academy of Neurology Congress 2026, with female patients carrying markedly more amyloid plaque despite similar cognitive outcomes.
Sex Differences in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Pathology
Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease often co-occur in older adults, yet sex differences in Alzheimer’s-related pathology among people with Parkinson’s disease have been little studied. Researchers set out to address that gap, asking whether women and men with Parkinson’s accumulate amyloid plaque, a defining marker of Alzheimer’s, to differing degrees.
Study Design and Neuropathological Assessment
Investigators from Mayo Clinic Arizona analysed 230 autopsy-confirmed Parkinson’s disease cases from the Arizona Study of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders and Brain and Body Donation Program. Participants had undergone annual clinical assessments during life, including cognitive testing, followed by comprehensive neuropathological examination after death. This observational clinicopathological design compared amyloid plaque measures and dementia rates between the sexes.
Amyloid Burden Higher in Women
Across several measures, female patients carried more amyloid than males. Their mean cortical total plaque scores reached 6.5 out of 15, against 4.9 in men (p=0.045), and neuritic plaque density was likewise higher at 1.7 versus 1.3 out of 3 (p=0.035). A high plaque burden was present in 56.8% of women but only 39.7% of men (p=0.015). Crucially, this gap held after accounting for age at death and the APOE ε4 risk gene, leaving women more than twice as likely to fall into the high-burden group (odds ratio 2.18; 95% CI 1.17 to 4.06; p=0.014). Even so, the two sexes showed no significant difference in Alzheimer’s dementia rates or cognitive test scores.
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Jul 9, 2026
Building that table hadn't been easy, but he had something to prove — to himself
Written by Crystal Onyema | July 1, 2026
There are few things more humbling than confidently giving someone credit for a job they didn’t do. That’s what happened to my family when an Ikea table suddenly showed up, fully assembled, in my aunt’s living room. Naturally, we assumed one of my cousins had put it together while everyone else was busy.
Uncle Brandon had been having a tough week. His tremors were more noticeable, his freezing episodes happened more often, and we just couldn’t picture him taking on a project that meant reading instructions, sorting hardware, and putting together so many pieces.
So we started congratulating my cousin, who looked at us with complete confusion. “I didn’t build the table,” he said.
That’s when we heard a familiar voice from the couch. “I did.”
Uncle Brandon never even looked away from the television. He simply cleared his throat and matter-of-factly claimed the credit, as if assembling Ikea furniture was just another Tuesday afternoon.
Proving something to himself
The room got quiet. We all looked at him. “You built it?” He nodded. Apparently, while everyone else was at church, he decided to tackle the project himself.
He later admitted it wasn’t easy. His tremors made him drop screws a few times. Some of the smaller pieces took longer to line up than they used to, and there were moments when he almost gave up. Instead, he kept going.
He said he glanced at the instructions now and then, but most of the work came from muscle memory. For decades, building and fixing things had been second nature to him. Long before Parkinson’s disease, he built furniture, fixed engines, and took on projects most people wouldn’t even try.
He trusted those years of experience. One screw at a time. One piece at a time. And one deep breath at a time.
When he finally tightened the last bolt, it wasn’t just a completed table sitting in the living room. It was proof that he could still finish what he started. Looking back, I don’t think Uncle Brandon was trying to prove anything to us. He was trying to prove something to himself.
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