In the context of World Parkinson’s disease day on April 11th, the ICM focuses on the latest discoveries.
Parkinson’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s. Second cause of motor disability with 4 million people in the world, Parkinson’s disease is characterised by the death of a population of neurons, called dopaminergic. These neurons produce a substance, dopamine, playing a role in the transmission of information between neurons, and essential to the harmonious control of movements. Symptoms include slow movements, stiffness of the limbs and chest, tremor, and walking ability disorders. These motor symptoms can lead to disability and loss of total autonomy in the person suffering from this disease.
Drug treatments can reduce the symptoms of the disease, by using dopamine agonists. However, there is no treatment to slow the progression of the disease; we can’t prevent neuronal death. Moreover, this neuronal degeneration is unfortunately not limited to dopaminergic neurons, nor to the motor system.
What are the risk factors of the disease ? What are the mechanisms responsible for the loss of neurons ? And how to counter them in order to slow the progression of the disease ? Researchers and clinicians take advantage of the ICM premises and its cutting-edge technology platforms to answer these questions and fight the disease.
http://icm-institute.org/en/actualite/world-parkinsons-disease-day/