Study calls for focus on mental effects of Parkinson's

An international Parkinson's disease research project is calling for the development of new assessment procedures to examine the condition's behavioural effects.

There is evidence which suggests the disease's psychological manifestations are major factors in patients' disabilities and quality of life deterioration, according to the ELEP project, a longitudinal study based at the Carlos III Institute of Health in Madrid.

Scientists say they hope to expand the level of knowledge about the relationship between the disease itself and its psychosocial impact.

In the study, which is set to be published in Value in Health, they have found that psychological functioning showed significant variations according to illness duration and severity but correlated with the emotional status of the individual.

Researchers from the Harvard University-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Ottawa recently found that a gene and protein which cause Parkinson's disease are controlled by genetic mechanisms in blood cells.

They said their findings raise hope for new types of therapies which focus on the alpha-synuclein gene.

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