groundwork for understanding why some people diagnosed with Parkinson ’ s experience primarily motor symptoms , while others experience primarily cognitive symptoms .
Research into these overlapping pathologies is expected to result in advances that help generate a paradigm shift in how brain disease is understood and treated and pave the way toward a precision medicine approach to PD and related neurodegenerative disorders .
dementia with Lewy bodies . What biology distinguishes at-risk individuals who will exhibit motor symptoms versus cognitive symptoms ?
Why do some people who have Parkinson ’ s test negative on aSyn-SAA ? Some people with Parkinson ’ s , especially those who have a LRRK2 mutation and / or do not have loss of smell — a risk factor for PD — were less likely to have a positive SAA . What is different about their biology ?
To help address these questions , PPMI will partner with more research participants at a clinical site and aim to enroll 5,500 people , up from its current goal of 4,000 . Those eligible for smell-loss screening will be :
+ Younger people without Parkinson ’ s aged 40 +.
+ People with Parkinson ’ s with longer disease duration ( within seven years ) and on medication .
PPMI ’ s expansion , enabled in part by generous support from the Aligning Science Across Parkinson ’ s initiative , will begin in late 2024 . Anyone aged 18 + with or without Parkinson ’ s can add valuable data to the study through its online platform . Visit michaeljfox . org / ppmi to find the best path for you in PPMI .
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