Clinical trials are designed and conducted by scientists and medical experts, who invite participants to undergo testing new vaccines, therapies, or treatments.
For example, researchers trying to identify causes of PD may conduct an observational study to examine genetic or environmental factors that may have triggered the disease in an individual.
Natural history studies that evaluate how Parkinson's affects different people and how it changes over time are another example of observational research.
Interventional and observational research are equally important in helping to answer questions, develop new treatments, and ultimately find a cure for Parkinson's.
Research on Parkinson's disease has investigated the link between quality of life and axial rigidity,[6] personality traits,[7] and patient education.
For example, an ongoing clinical study exploring Vitamin D as a possible therapy to improve balance and decrease the risk of falling in people with Parkinson's[9] expects a subsequent increase in safety and well-being.
Another recent study used data mining and analysis from previous clinical research to explore improvement in motor function people with Parkinson's disease experience after treatment with levodopa.
[10] The study concluded that motor learning in the presence of levodopa may improve the body's ability to adapt to Parkinson's disease.
[12] Researchers are also investigating vaccines for Parkinson's disease that produce cells that change the way the body's immune system responds to the loss of dopamine.
This treatment has shown success in reversing Parkinson's in mice, and researchers are investigating the viability of clinical studies in people.
[19] The study, published in Neuroscience Bulletin, discovered that a mutation in the Cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase (CARS) gene (c.2384A>T; p.Glu795Val; E795V) is responsible, offering a new path for prevention and control of the disease.
[20] In an animal model, manipulating glial precursor cells produced astrocytes that repaired Parkinson's multiple types of neurological damage.
[22] A number of Parkinson's disease clinical research studies seek to enroll people newly diagnosed with PD that are not currently undergoing any treatment.
These trials vary in scope, some focusing on neuroprotection in which researchers seek to determine whether a certain compound might offer protection to dopamine-producing cells, thus helping to slow or stop the progression of the disease.
[23] In addition to patients with PD, healthy controls, including friends and family members of those with Parkinson's, are also needed for clinical trials.
In addition to furthering the scientific community's knowledge of Parkinson's, clinical trial participation may offer access to leading healthcare professionals and potentially useful new drugs and therapies.
People with PD may consult their doctors, discuss with their family members, and speak to other clinical trials participants about their experiences.
All samples are stored at the NINDS Human Genetics Repository at Coriell Institute and can be requested through the PDBP Data Management Resource.
[32] In 2010, the Fox foundation launched the first large-scale clinical study on evolution biomarkers of the disease with a cost of 40 million dollars in 5 years.
[35] The Cure Parkinson's Trust, set up in the UK in 1968 by Tom Isaacs,[36] was instrumental in arranging a ground-breaking clinical trial of the drug GDNF at the University of Bristol during the 2010s.