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| Specialists have long suspected that symptoms progressed more slowly in Parkinson's disease patients whose main problem was tremors, rather than walking or balance. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found a connection among a genetic variation, tremors, and slower progression of the disease.
Specialists have long suspected that symptoms progressed more
slowly in Parkinson's disease patients whose main problem was tremors, rather
than walking or balance.
Researchers
at the University of Pennsylvania have found a connection among a genetic
variation, tremors, and slower progression of the disease.
The
information does not yet explain why some patients have a better course, but it
may lead to more precise, individually targeted treatments and more accurate
information for patients.
"The
immediate practical importance is in clinical trial design," said Alice
Chen-Plotkin, an assistant professor of neurology at Penn and the new study's
senior author.
Scientists
can better assess a treatment's effectiveness when they know how a disease is
likely to unfold. A new drug, for example, could look less effective than it
actually is if a clinical trial has an unusually high proportion of people with
the newly studied genetic variation.
Chen-Plotkin
and lead author Christine Cooper, a fellow in movement disorders at Penn, are
presenting their work this week at the annual meeting of the American Academy
of Neurology in Vancouver, British Columbia.
They
looked at genetic variations in 251 Parkinson's disease patients at Penn.
Thirty-nine of them had a variation associated with tremors rather than balance
problems, as well as slower disease progression and lower levels of alpha
sinuclein - the protein that is the primary component of Lewy bodies - in the
brain.
The
relationship held up when the Penn team analyzed 559 patients from the
University of Cincinnati, the University of Washington, and Oregon Health and
Science University.
The
researchers measured progression on a 27-question exam that doctors use to
evaluate physical function. Each question can be answered on a zero-to-4 scale.
Higher scores reflect more impairment. In the study, patients with the genotype
increased from an average score of about 23 at their first visit to 35 six
years later. Patients with other genotypes increased from 23 to 41 during that
time period.
Cooper
said that doctors still do not know why people get Parkinson's and why about a
third of them never have tremors. She said patients vary widely in their
symptoms and in response to medication.
215-854-4944 @StaceyABurling
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160420_In_Parkinson_s__tremors_may_be_a_good_sign.html
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Wednesday, April 20, 2016
In Parkinson's, tremors may be a good sign
April 20, 2016
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