"Research Uncovered", Rheged Centre, 28 April 2017

Simon White
May 15, 2017
3 min read

On 28th April, 70+ people from across the North gathered at Rheged to hear about current research into Parkinson’s. The topic came alive as we met researchers, heard their stories, and asked questions. The researchers were most helpful, explaining their work, and giving us insights into an area where there are no easy answers. Over the day, a fascinating picture emerged of the range of research work.

Were we told the secrets of Parkinson’s? It takes years of training and study to understand them, so I wouldn’t know. Some comments from the researchers did stand out for me:

Dr Paul Chazot, University of Durham, has been working on pain, and plans to trial a narcolepsy drug for effectiveness in Parkinson’s. As well as this approach using chemistry, he is involved in the NHS Durham Pain Management Group which takes a holistic approach.
Dr Rosie Morris, Newcastle University ICICLE-Gait project, said that some walking problems can be reduced, but you need to practise for 10-15 minutes a day on an easy route so that you can concentrate fully on your gait. Different kinds of sticks and poles can help but need to be suited to the individual.
Dr Amy Reeve, Newcastle University, is testing existing drugs from a “library” of over a thousand owned by a European company, to find any which might be helpful in Parkinson’s. She explained that researchers have a widespread network of coworkers and also publish their work frequently, to share knowledge and get feedback.
Dr Gavin Hudson, Newcastle University, studies the makeup of healthy and failing cells. Insights into cell defects in Parkinson’s can come from similar work on other diseases. When a defect is identified in cells in the laboratory, people with that defect need to be studied over time to discover how the problem affects them. Here again, teamwork between researchers is important.
Dr Daniel Erskine, Newcastle University, is looking at links between Loewy bodies and visual hallucinations. 50% of people with Parkinson’s will have perceptions of things that are not there. These may result from the normal activity of healthy cells, which the brain has not managed to switch off in the usual way.
Suma Surendranath, Parkinson’s UK Excellence Network. Every two years, Parkinson’s UK carries out a UK-wide audit to check the standard of Parkinson’s care. The Excellence Network feeds the findings back to the health service, and encourages training and professional development.

Those are a few comments from the discussion groups, as I understood them.

At the start of the day, Mark Fairhurst from Bolton gave his view as a person with Parkinson’s. Mark stressed the importance of knowing about side effects and your individual response to medication, and thinking it over for yourself: “I found I could have a list of twenty questions to ask before I went to my neurologist for help, and often my problem would clear itself up in a couple of weeks. By learning about Parkinson’s and how medication works, you are almost a researcher yourself, understanding the condition and medication and how to manage it. With anxiety, for example, just realising that the chemical processes in your brain may be causing your anxiety is a relief in itself. We are not unique to the extent that treatments can’t work, but we need to understand our individual differences, of metabolism, lifestyle, gender.”

That’s quite a challenge. It’s a good target for me to aim at, anyway.