CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – There was a time when Parkinson’s disease was considered rare, but emerging evidence suggests Parkinson’s is reaching pandemic proportions.
The NIH estimates that half a million Americans are now living with the disease, but ongoing research is helping increase the potential for treatment options.
In his mid-50s, John Cox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years ago, but even before then, he noticed changes in his movements.
“I had an issue where if I did this to my hand, it would kick my hand to start shaking and I couldn’t stop it, and I’m like, ‘something’s not right,’” he said.
Cox is now participating in his second clinical trial into treatments for Parkinson’s.
“I enrolled in the first one sheerly just trying to be first in line to get some kind of medication to stop this or at least treat it,” he said.
Neurologist Dr. Sonia Kalirao with HCA Florida Northwest Hospital and The Neurology Institute is leading several clinical trials into Parkinson’s.
“So the research that is incoming both in the diagnostic world as well as therapeutic, means diagnosis -- how we can establish a diagnosis, how we can say a patient is starting to have Parkinson’s, or even better, how we can say you’re predisposed to having Parkinson’s. And then there’s therapeutic -- OK, we have a diagnosis, how can we treat you?” Kalirao said.
Researchers are looking into treatment with a form of vitamin B3 and investigating new ways to detect the disease through eye scans and blood tests.
“We are excited about these trials because they will give us more standardization about diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease,” Kalirao said.
While there is currently no cure for Parkinson’s disease, the earlier it’s detected the more treatment and care a person can receive to help slow disease progression.
“Who knows, this one I’m on right now could be the one,” Cox said.
While Parkinson’s is most common in people over the age of 60, early onset Parkinson’s, which often has a genetic component, can affect people under 50.