In this randomized trial, tai chi was more effective than resistance-training or stretching programs in improving the postural stability of patients with Parkinson's disease. Tai chi also was more effective than the stretching program in reducing the number of falls.

In this randomized trial of deep-brain stimulation targeted to either the globus pallidus interna or the subthalamic nucleus in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease, the patients assigned to pallidal stimulation and those assigned to subthalamic stimulation had a similar improvement in motor function.

In this international collaborative study, mutations in the gene for glucocerebrosidase (GBA), a deficiency of which causes Gaucher's disease, were much more likely to be detected in patients with Parkinson's disease than in controls, confirming that there is a strong association between GBA mutations and Parkinson's disease.

This double-blind trial was designed to determine whether rasagiline slows the progression of Parkinson's disease. As compared with delayed treatment, early treatment with rasagiline at a dose of 1 mg per day achieved benefits consistent with a disease-modifying effect, but 2 mg per day did not result in similar benefits.

In this case series of 23 adults in Latvia who were injection users of methcathinone (a drug manufactured by users from readily available pharmaceutical agents such as pseudoephedrine), patients had an extrapyramidal syndrome, elevated serum manganese levels, and MRI abnormalities in the basal ganglia. These findings suggest that methcathinone use can result in neurologic toxic effects from manganese contained in the methcathinone solution.

A cohort of patients with Parkinson's disease treated with either ergot-derived or non–ergot-derived dopamine agonists underwent echocardiographic evaluation. As compared with a group of normal control subjects, patients taking pergolide or cabergoline had a higher frequency of clinically important valve regurgitation and more evidence of stiffening and displacement of the mitral leaflet, as measured by the tenting area of the mitral valve.

The association between antiparkinsonian drugs and cardiac-valve regurgitation was assessed in a nested case–control study from a large general-practice database in the United Kingdom. The rate of cardiac-valve regurgitation was increased with current use of pergolide (incidence-rate ratio, 7.1) or cabergoline (incidence-rate ratio, 4.9) but not with current use of other dopamine agonists. Clinicians should consider the risk of valvular heart disease when prescribing these agents.

In this randomized trial comparing neurostimulation of the subthalamic nucleus with medical management alone in 156 patients with severe Parkinson's disease, neurostimulation improved the quality of life and motor symptoms. Severe adverse events included a fatal intracerebral hemorrhage resulting from surgical placement of the neurostimulator.