To help prevent or avoid the motor fluctuations and dyskinesias that often occur in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, researchers have developed a new method to provide continuous infusions of levodopa—Duodopa^®.

The results of two recent studies support the idea that the loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells may be due, at least in part, to previous bacterial infections. In the first study, researchers found that maternal infection with gram-negative bacteria in pregnant rats resulted in a marked decrease in the number of cells in the substantia nigra in the rat pups that were born. Subsequent exposure to environmental toxins after birth tended to speed up the loss of these cells.   In the second study, researchers concluded that an association may exist between a previous infection with a certain bacterium known as Nocardia asteroides and the development of Lewy bodies in people with neurodegenerative disorders.