There is still intensive research into Parkinson’s disease. The aim is to detect Parkinson’s disease as early as possible, ideally before motor problems occur, and to cure this condition. But that is still a long way off. Here is a small selection of the work that is currently being carried out.
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Early Detection: Key To Developing Preventive Parkinson’s Therapies
It usually takes years or even decades from the onset of the disease in the body to the appearance of the first clinical symptoms in Parkinson’s disease or other movement disorders. This time window offers the opportunity to recognize the disease before it affects the patient. In order to identify these sick people without symptoms, smell tests, sleep tests, skin biopsy tests, nerve water tests and genetic diagnostics are now available to science. Recently it was possible to demonstrate the clumping of the protein alpha-synuclein, which damages the nerve cells in the brain, for diagnostic purposes in the nerve water and in the skin. Science is now on the threshold of an objective and particularly early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. For those at risk of Parkinson’s disease, science is currently looking for ways to prevent the onset of clinical symptoms through early intervention.
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Intelligent sensor system
At the University Hospital Erlangen, a sensor system is currently being tested that recognizes even the smallest changes in the gait pattern and records more than 700 features such as step height and length. The gait pattern can provide doctors with an early indication of Parkinson’s disease. The plan is to integrate the sensor system into a shoe sole.
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“Parkinson’s Vaccination”
It is now known that the protein alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease clumps and spreads in the patient’s brain. This leads to a malfunction and loss of nerve cells, followed by the typical Parkinson’s syndromes. Experimental Parkinson’s models showed that repeated vaccination with antibodies against alpha-synuclein can interrupt this mechanism. In the meantime, it has also been shown in a few Parkinson’s patients that these antibodies can intercept the alpha-synuclein protein in the blood of humans. As part of a large international study, initial indications were also obtained that suggest that this ‘Parkinson’s vaccination’ could reduce the course of the disease. These results will now be verified in a larger international study.
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Numerous new therapeutic approaches at the molecular level
In the field of therapy development, research for patients with Parkinson’s disease is very active in Germany. For example, there are approaches with the novel antisense oligonucleotide therapy. This group of substances suppresses the production of misfolded proteins on the basis of defective genes (“gene silencing”). The method is now also being used in clinical studies for Parkinson’s syndromes in Germany. Another example of novel molecular therapy strategies are investigations with substances that are supposed to dissolve the agglutinations of the alpha-synuclein again.
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Warning of promise of salvation
For several years there have been approaches to treat Parkinson’s patients with the help of stem cell transplants. Animal experiments were reasonably successful under scientific conditions, but the results were not satisfactory in humans, so that this approach is still not a standard procedure in Parkinson’s therapy.
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“A stem cell transplant carries risks and does not guarantee successful therapy. If patients are offered such a procedure, especially if they are also supposed to pay for it, they should urgently seek advice from a special neurological outpatient clinic at a university clinic or a specialty clinic for Parkinson’s disease.”
Neurologist Prof. Höglinger
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The German Society for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders
The German Society for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders (DPG) promotes research into Parkinson’s disease and improves patient care. Parkinson’s doctors and basic researchers are organized in the scientific and medical society. The collaboration between these two branches is crucial for advances in diagnostics and therapy.
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Parkinson-Agenda 2030
Under the title of the Parkinson’s 2030 Agenda, the DPG is increasingly devoting itself to the scientific and social challenges described.
The aim is to sensitize and activate society for the concerns of patients with Parkinson’s disease. With its working groups, the DPG also supports research into the causes, early and differential diagnosis and new therapeutic options. A national registry for Parkinson’s and other movement disorders is to be established. In particular, the national research landscape for the clinical testing of new therapeutic approaches with patients is to be optimized with emphasis. The DPG initiated the Parkinson Foundation as an important building block for this.
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The Parkinson’s Foundation
The Parkinson Foundation is committed to providing comprehensive information about the disease and promoting further research into possible forms of therapy. The foundation was founded in 2019 by the German Society for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders. Its seat is in Berlin.
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