http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/...ng_parkinsons/

I had to highlight that this was shared at the WPC and the researcher stated:

"I think it is about time we brought genetics into the design of clinical trials for Parkinson's disease," she told Reuters.

Finally! Someone starting to see the big disconnect between genetic research and trials. I think genetics is largely why we experience this so differently and explain the varied treatment responses.

The last sentence of the article is disappointing for the misinformation:

Parkinson's is a fatal and incurable brain disease that affects 1 to 2 percent of people over the age of 65.

I will try to add a comment to ask them to correct the info.

Thanks for this article, Soccertese. The genetic aspect of disease and treatment is eventually going to become standard for treating patients, IMHO.

Laura

Laura, did they give % of PD for different age groups? If the rate is 1-2% for people over 65, what is it for folks over 70, 75, 80, etc.? I wonder because our neuro told us he believed that if we all lived long enough, we would ALL eventually get PD.

Lurking,

I have long given up trying to figure out percentages as there really is no statistically accurate count of how many people have PD. Seriously. There was a study just revealed at the WPC on how there are many more African-Americans suffering with PD than previously thought because within that community they are more likely not to seek treatment. Why? Astonishingly, many said they thought it was a typical part of aging! I can see now how hard it would be to get accurate numbers in less developed parts of the world. This is why that National Disease Registry is so desperately needed.

What I can't figure out is where the researcher found access to 2,000 PWP to do a cross environmental-genetic study?

A further look at the genetics...this study is key because it explains why adenosine receptor drugs only work for some people in clinical trials. I imagine this explains a lot of why meds work so differently for all of us.

Apparently, adenosine acting drugs are to mimic or heighten protective quality of coffee and they couldn't figure out why it wasn't doing so well in trials. On the flip side, if a PWP is a carrier of the GRIN2a mutation, they would benefit from this drug treatment. Will pharma take hold of that kind of niche development if it benefits only a small percentage of PWP?

As for your neuro's comment: Oy, we need to start a list of cliches used by our docs. What exactly is "long enough"?

Laura