Our hopes for the Parkinson’s community in the year ahead.
This year, Parkinson’s Europe will continue to advocate to improve the lives of people with Parkinson’s, as well as to campaign for more research into its causes and for the development of new medications. Here are three areas where we’d like to see change in 2024:
Progress on pesticides
There is growing scientific evidence that exposure to certain pesticides may be a contributory factor in the development of Parkinson’s. Despite last year’s campaign by the scientific and Parkinson’s communities to alert the European Commission to growing evidence that the pesticide glyphosate could be a cause of the condition, in November it gave its permission for it to be used for another 10 years. Our battle is not over, however, and this year we will continue the fight to make our voices heard about the potential dangers of exposure to this and other pesticides.
Read about our campaign against glyphosate.
A proactive Parkinson’s community
Together, we’re stronger. You can play a proactive role in improving life for people with Parkinson’s by joining the Parkinson’s Europe engagement network.
Whether you live with Parkinson’s, or know someone who does, or if you work in the field of Parkinson’s, you can help to make a change.
This is how it works: you sign up to become a network member and tell us exactly what opportunities you are interested in hearing about – ranging from lobbying for change, to shaping research, improving treatment and finding a cure. We then email you as soon as one of those opportunities becomes available, so that you can take the next step if you want to take part. It’s as simple as that.
Read more about our engagement network.
New scientific breakthroughs
Research is the engine driving change and hope for people with Parkinson’s. Last year, we saw an incredible breakthrough with the discovery of a Parkinson’s biomarker by a group of scientists led by The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF). They discovered a new tool which can detect abnormal alpha-synuclein – known as the “Parkinson’s protein”. The α-synuclein seeding amplification assay can detect pathology in spinal fluid not only in people with Parkinson’s, but also in those who have not yet been diagnosed or shown symptoms but are at a high risk of developing the condition. It is hoped that this could help to diagnose Parkinson’s in the future as well as provide the foundation for finding new treatments – perhaps preventing those with the biomarker from ever developing the condition.
Another study, by the Université of Montréal (UdeM) in Canada, found that Parkinson’s may go undetected for as long as 10 years before symptoms develop. Their findings suggest that dopamine levels in the brain remain sufficiently high for many years before motor changes appear. We look forward to the further progress science will make this year.
Read the MJFF study.
Read the UdeM study.
What are your hopes for 2024? Let us know in the comments!
