Journal of Parkinson's Disease

15/04/2026

Dogs trained to detect Parkinson’s disease using scent have shown remarkable accuracy in research conducted by University of Bristol, The University of Manchester, and the Medical Detection Dogs charity.

In a double-blind trial, two dogs identified skin swabs from people with Parkinson’s with up to 80% sensitivity and 98% specificity.

Read more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250716000846.htm

Read the full article in JPD: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1877718X251342485

Dogs trained to detect Parkinson’s disease using scent have shown remarkable accuracy in new research. In a double-blind trial, they identified skin swabs from people with Parkinson’s with up to 80% sensitivity and 98% specificity, even when other health conditions were present. The findings off...

14/04/2026

Digital health technologies are promising tools to improve patient care especially in rural and underserved areas.
We see this in many domains:
- in the DBS field
- the Parkinson’s companion app that includes the Chaudhuri-Mostyn dashboard of Parkinson’s vitals and can serve as a tool for patients to better prepare for their consultations. See: https://techguide.parkinsons.org.uk/catalogue/the-parkinsons-companion
- the advent of digital health monitoring with wearable sensors
And now also in the field of multidisciplinary care. This new study set up an online education and training program for people with Parkinson’s disease suffering from gait difficulties in rural Brazil. This is a very interesting model that was demonstrated to safely delivery allied healthcare services to communities where this was not readily available. Such online programs could even have added value complementary to in-person rehabilitation. It could help reach more patients even with a limited workforce of healthcare professionals and rising numbers of people with Parkinson’s disease. I was particularly impressed by the positive effect of this program on freezing of gait and the diminished impact of gait impairments on daily life.

Read the full text here: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1877718X251410104
by Tamine Capato, Anouk Tosserams, Bastiaan Bloem & Jorik Nonnekes

This study was supported by the following patient associations: Colibri–Associação Brasil Parkinson Núcleo
Piracicaba, Associção Brasil Parkinson, and Vibrar com Parkinson

Highlight written by Bruno Bergmans

07/04/2026

A new study provides a glimpse of what the future could bring for the CSF-α-synuclein seed amplification assay (CSF-α-Syn-SAA).
Starting from the PPMI cohort the authors in this elegant study provide evidence that the speed parameters at baseline of this assay can predict the Parkinson’s disease subtype (diffuse malignant (DM) vs. mild motor predominant (MMP) vs. intermediate (IM)) at 10-year follow-up. An important caveat is that for the moment there is considerable overlap between groups. So, as of now, the test cannot yet be used as a quantitative test at the individual level. Further progress however, could be promising to help us better counsel our patients and maybe one day inform the stratification of disease-modifying clinical trials.

Read the full paper here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1877718X261417468

Highlight written by Bruno Bergmans

Bastiaan Bloem

30/03/2026

There is more and more evidence that aerobic exercise can influence symptom control and disease progression in patients with Parkinson’s disease. At the International Movement Disorders Course in Brașov earlier this month Paolo Calabresi presented his beautiful work.
Now in our latest issue a pilot study by the groups of A. Jon Stoessl and Vesna Sossi provides further evidence of a mechanistic link by the compensatory reorganization of both dopaminergic- and cholinergic-enriched networks. Interestingly the moderate intensity aerobic exercise in this study consisted of stationary cycling group sessions led by a personal trainer over Zoom, an interesting model with wide applicability.

You can read the full paper here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/1877718X261420080

As a bonus I also recommend you to listen to this International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society podcast interview of A. Jon Stoessl by Michele Matarazzo: https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/mds-podcast/id1453430231?i=1000726944802

Highlight by Bruno Bergmans

Bastiaan Bloem

30/03/2026

📰 NEW: Review article in JPD

Harnessing artificial intelligence: Revolutionizing clinical care for Parkinson's disease, by William J Marks, Jr

Read the full Review here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1877718X261436962

27/03/2026

🔦 Spotlighting our Clinical Trial Highlights section! This collection promotes discussion of clinical trials, how they are conducted, and their outcomes in order to raise awareness of the clinical trial landscape and support its progress.

All papers in this collection are free to read, download and share.

👉 Explore our Clinical Trial articles here:

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

24/03/2026

Trending paper: Parkinson’s Disease Is Predominantly an Environmental Disease

In this paper, neurologist Ray Dorsey and Editor-in-Chief Bas Bloem detail three environmental toxicants that are likely among the main causes of Parkinson’s disease— certain pesticides, the solvent trichloroethylene, and air pollution. All three environmental toxicants are ubiquitous, many affect mitochondrial functioning, and all can access humans via various routes, including inhalation and ingestion. They reach the hopeful conclusion that most of Parkinson’s disease is thus preventable and that we can help to create a world where Parkinson’s disease is increasingly rare.

Read it here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3233/JPD-230357

Parkinson’s disease is the world’s fastest growing brain disorder, and exposure to environmental toxicants is the principal reason. In this paper, we consider a...

23/03/2026

When I spoke recently at the Belgian Federal Parliament, one of the most impactful moments was when I showed this figure about The Parkinson’s Universe from the article about The Parkinson’s Universe of Care Model by Michael S Okun, Bastiaan Bloem & Ray Dorsey, reprinted with permission from The Parkinson’s Plan book by Ray Dorsey and Michael S Okun.
In a wonderful way it illustrates all different aspects of patient-centered, individualized multidisciplinary care for patients with Parkinson’s disease.

It is definitely worthwhile to read the full text commentary here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1877718X251399958

You can pick up a copy of the Parkinson’s Plan in your favorite bookshop.

Highlight written by Bruno Bergmans

Bastiaan Bloem

20/03/2026

The March issue is here! This issue includes Research Articles on:

Anxiety is associated with increased risk of suicidality in Parkinson's disease, by Lam et al.

An online platform to increase access to gait rehabilitation for underserved Parkinson's disease communities, by Capato et al.

Discrepancies between patient and caregiver reports of daily living abilities in Parkinson's disease, by Jin et al.

Find these articles and more: https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/pkna/16/2

Table of contents for Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, 16, 2

19/03/2026

Experts at the University of Colorado Anschutz have created the first evidence-based decision tool to help people with Parkinson’s decide if deep brain stimulation (DBS) is right for them. 94% of patients said they would recommend the tool.

Read more: https://news.cuanschutz.edu/news-stories/a-first-of-its-kind-tool-helps-parkinsons-patients-decide-if-deep-brain-stimulation-is-right-for-them

A First-of-Its-Kind Tool Helps Parkinson’s Patients Decide if Deep Brain Stimulation Is Right for Them

15/03/2026

Dysphagia is a common and serious problem in patients with Parkinson's disease. Prioritized by the Parkinson's Foundation and supported by the Parkinson Study Group, Other Non-Motor Working Group (PSG ONMWG), an expert panel drafted new consensus expert recommendations for the management of dysphagia with Delaram Safarpour as first and corresponding author.
As the authors eloquently state, these recommendations are not mandates, but they are a roadmap toward current best practice.

Some of the most important clinical pearls that stood out to me:
- Always remember that symptomatic dysphagia in PD can grossly underestimate the degree of dysfunction. An astonishing 60–80% of patients with PD are not cognizant of their oropharyngeal dysfunction, and most do not report symptoms unless specifically questioned.
- It is thus important to question your patients for increased eating time (meal duration), post-swallowing coughing, post-swallowing gurgling voice, drooling, choking, breathing disturbance, unintentional weight loss, difficulty in swallowing pills, sensation of retention of food and pneumonia episode(s). The presence of any of these symptoms should prompt further evaluation.
- When patients are unable to take their oral PD medications, some medications can be administered through tube (see figure below). Other alternative modes of administration are the rotigotine patch, LCIG/LECIG and the apomorphine and foslevodopa/foscarbidopa SC pumps (see also https://doi.org/10.1002/mdc3.70253)

Full text here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1877718X251410503

Highlight written by Bruno Bergmans

Bastiaan Bloem

19/12/2025

JPD will attend the World Parkinson's Congress 2026 in Phoenix Arizona, with a booth presence in the exhibit hall. We are happy and proud to announce that the the congress abstracts will again be published in JPD. We look forward to connecting with many of you there! Note that early registration for the meeting runs until January 15: https://wpc2026.org/

What: 7th World Parkinson CongressWho is invited: All stakeholders in the Parkinson’s communityWhen: Sun., May 24 – Wed., May 27, 2026Where: Phoenix, Arizona, USAAddress: Phoenix Convention Center