MONDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) — People with a family history of melanoma are twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, a new study finds.
While the reasons for this association are not clear, other studies have shown that people with Parkinson’s diseases are at greater risk for developing melanoma.
“For people with a family member with melanoma, they may be at risk for Parkinson’s disease,” said lead researcher Dr. Xiang Gao, an instructor Read the rest of this entry »

Neuss, Germany – Parkinson’s therapy relies on a combination
of multiple medicines. New software can help patients keep track of
how the drugs interact.
The software, which tracks drugs on the German market, was created
by Ferenc Fornadi, medical director of the Gertrudis Clinic in
Biskirchen, Germany which focuses on Parkinson’s disease. The project
was initiated by the German Parkinson’s Association.
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ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2009)
— Women who have more years of fertility (the time from first menstruation to menopause) have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than women with fewer years, according to a large, new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
“These findings, involving nearly 75,000 women, suggest that longer exposure to the body’s own, or endogenous, hormones, including estrogen, Read the rest of this entry »

There are several interesting medical stories making news Monday, from the effects of a lifetime of coffee drinking to help losing weight.
So let’s start out with coffee drinking. It is something most of us do. But is it good for you? Is there long-term harm? There are many answers and opinions, but now there is scientific evidence that suggests a benefit for some women who drink coffee.
Researchers have been carefully tracking 83,000 female nurses Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – When there’s melanoma in the family, there may also be Parkinson’s disease, researchers report.
They found that a family history of melanoma seems to be tied to a genetic susceptibility to develop Parkinson’s disease. The findings are due to be presented on May 1 at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Seattle.
“Co-occurrence of Parkinson’s disease and melanoma has been reported in numerous studies,” Read the rest of this entry »

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) — Antidepressants that treat multiple brain receptors may be better at treating depression in people with Parkinson’s disease than medications that block only the serotonin receptor, a new study says.
The report, published in the Dec. 17 online issue of
, found that Parkinson’s patients on the tricyclic nortriptyline were almost five times more likely to have their symptoms of depression improve than were those Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: Jan. 6, 2009 3:14 p.m.
Susan Wolter had a scary decision to make.
She could continue taking the 13 pills a day she needed to control her Parkinson’s disease, along with dealing with the side effects. Or she could allow doctors to implant two long, thin electrodes deep into her brain, along with an electrical generator about the size of an iPod in her chest.
In August 2007, Wolter, 63, underwent the surgery at Froedtert Hospital, and Read the rest of this entry »

TUESDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) — The largest study of its kind finds that deep brain stimulation improves both physical function and quality of life after six months in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) performed better than currently available drug treatments, but it did carry some risks, including one death, according to a study in the Jan. 7 issue of the
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“This basically corroborates what has largely emerged Read the rest of this entry »