“The elderly person who is shaking is a very false image of Parkinson’s disease”. Marie Fuzzati, scientific director of the France Parkinson association, is clear: each Parkinson’s patient develops different symptoms. We count about sixty today, motor symptoms such as tremors, abnormal or slow movements, but also mood disorders, digestion or anxiety.
Above all, “25% of those diagnosed are under 60 years old.says Marie Fuzzati. Parkinson’s affects many young people, who may be in professional activity.
This is the case of doctor Dan Farcas, 56 years old. Diagnosed at the age of 22, he is still a cardiologist in his office in Châteauroux. “For me, it’s still possible because I have a mind of steel says the doctor. I have a reason to get out of bed every morning with this job.”
Suffering from a slight dyskinesia, some speech problems, he assures that his work allows him to fight against the disease. “The Parkinson’s patient must remain active to make his brain work, Dan Farcas advances. Otherwise, the dopamine level will drop and the complications will come faster.”
Soon a drug to stop the disease?
Public Health France had 1,017 Parkinson’s patients in Indre, 938 in Indre, in 2015, the date of the latest figures available. Today, no treatment can cure these patients. “We currently have drugs that improve symptoms, especially motor symptoms, for 5 to 10 years. It improves the patient’s quality of life explains Marie Fuzzati. Afterwards, you have to revise the dosages or use other methods than oral medications.
Today, research is focused on treatments capable of slowing the progression of the disease
. “It’s good to improve the symptoms, but we know that they will evolve over time, explains Marie Fuzzati. The idea is to be able to say at a time T, we have such a treatment that stops the disease.”
According to the scientific director of France Parkinson, studies focus on drugs already on the market. “They are prescribed for other pathologies, but they act on mechanisms that can be interesting in Parkinson’s disease”
These studies are still in their infancy. “it will be necessary wait several years before seeing molecules arrive on the market for patients”, concludes Marie Fuzzati. In the meantime, they advise patients to exercise and monitor their diet. These are two factors that affect the development of the disease.