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PD Brief is an independent weekly summary of newly published Parkinson's disease research, written in clear, nontechnical language for patients, caregivers, students, and anyone following the field.
3 issues published since August 2026.
A large trial of exenatide — the GLP-1 drug the field had pinned real hope on — found no benefit in Parkinson's. Eighteen months later the paper was placed under an expression of concern after inspectors found serious problems at one of its hospitals. Both facts matter.
In a year-long French trial, people with early Parkinson's who took the diabetes drug lixisenatide did not get worse, while those on placebo did. The gap was small, the side effects were not, and the result raised more questions than it settled.
Study: New England Journal of Medicine
A test that detects misfolded alpha-synuclein in spinal fluid identified Parkinson's in 88% of people who had it, and was positive in most people who had warning signs but no diagnosis. It is the closest the field has come to a biological test for the disease.
Study: The Lancet Neurology