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The Mix: UAB expert speaks at Neuroscience 2012 of experimental drug therapies for Parkinson's disease Alabamians with Parkinson's and their doctors discuss how diagnosis affects their lives in You Tube video UAB studies find deep-brain stimulation changes rhythms to treat Parkinson's disease and tremor Deep-brain stimulation may stop uncontrollable shaking in patients with Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor by imposing its own rhythm on the brain, according to two studies published recently by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers in the journal Movement Disorders. An article addressing brain stimulation for essential tremor was published online Aug. 28, 2012; a related article on Parkinson’s disease was released May 30. Study finds gel can reduce daily slowness, tremors in Parkinson's disease An experimental treatment for Parkinson’s disease reduced by nearly two hours on average patients’ “off-time” – the period each day when medication fails to control slowness and shaking. The results are from a double-blind, phase III clinical trial that compared Abbott Lab’s levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel against the same medication in pill form in patients with advanced disease. The University of Alabama at Birmingham was among the sites for the study, and David G. Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the UAB Department of Neurology, among its authors. Traumatic brain injury impairs financial decision making skills People who experience a traumatic brain injury show a marked decline in the ability to make appropriate financial decisions in the immediate aftermath and a continued impairment on complex financial skills six months later, according to new research from UAB. “It is likely that after moderate to severe TBI, most survivors will not be able to manage any aspect of their financial affairs,” said Daniel C. Marson, J.D., Ph.D., professor in the Department of Neurology, director of the division of neuropsychology and senior author of the study. “There will be an immediate need for education and identification of responsible parties to manage financial affairs and protect the economic resources and emotional well-being of those with TBI.” |