Paula,

I'm glad you posted this. I wanted to start a thread really just to be able to thank Debi and the MJFF for starting this exchange. Whenever I feel down that research seems to go nowhere, I am heartened by this effort that encourages researchers in a creative, free-form exchange of ideas. Fantastic!

Now if we could just get a database of patient characteristics, self-medication practices, and histories together. I feel strongly that this is really a missing link. There is so much focus on the biochemical aspects of PD that I really feel we're missing a qualitative aspect that might provide a clue to epidemiology. For example, how many of us have lost sense of smell, how many experienced REM sleep disorder, how many of us have suffered prior head injury, etc.? There HAS to be some common links that give some clue to the environmental aspects of the disease. 23andme is a nod in the right direction but does not go far enough in its survey, IMHO.

Laura