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frojack writes:

Sadly too late to save Casey Kasem, who died today (6/15) after a long bout with Parkinson's Disease (PD), several new developments in Parkinson's research have been spotlighted lately.

First, MRI scans can be used to detect early onset of the disease. The new technique, called "resting state fMRI" could predict the onset of Parkinson's in 11 out of 13 patients, or with 85% accuracy.

Next the University of Pennsylvania, has demonstrated that immunotherapy with specifically-targeted antibodies may block the development and spread of PD pathology in the brain. By intercepting the distorted and misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins that enter and propagate in neurons, creating aggregates, the researchers prevented the development of pathology and also reversed some of the effects of already-existing disease.

Also a UCLA genetic discovery may lead to potential early detection and treatment. A new study has provided a major breakthrough in Parkinson's disease research by identifying a new gene involved in the condition.

Your Phone as a diagnostic tool? An MIT researcher analyzed the voice characteristics of patients who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He discovered that he could create a tool that would detect Parkinson's disease in the speech patterns of individuals. The tool could also measure progression of the disease. All it takes is a patient making a phone call and the speech being analyzed to detect irregular vocal tremors.

University of Alabama researcher thinks LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2> inhibitors, might be able to slow or prevent the disease.

Perhaps there is hope for those watching their loved ones slip into the Parkinson's abyss.