Parkinsons Disease And The Problems Of Clinical Trials

This volume looks at major clinical trials for motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and covers important aspects, including trial design, sample selection, and outcome selection. Chapters in this book discuss topics such as toxin-based rodent or genetic models of PD; clinical trials for motor symptoms, L-DOPA related motor complications, and gait disorders; clinical trials for mood disorders, troubled sleep, autonomic dysfunction; and clinical trials for disease modifying therapies. In the Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory or research center. Cutting-edge and authoritative, Clinical Trials in Parkinson’s Disease is a valuable resource for clinicians and researchers who want to enhance their interpretation of results from clinical trials and to design their own high-quality trials.

Successful drug development relies on accurate and efficient clinical trials to deliver the best and most effective pharmaceuticals and clinical care to patients. However, the current model for clinical trials is outdated, inefficient and costly. Clinical trials are limited by small sample sizes that do not reflect variations among patients in the real world, financial burdens on participants, and slow processes, and these factors contribute to the disconnect between clinical research and clinical practice. On November 28-29, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop to investigate the current clinical trials system and explore the potential benefits and challenges of implementing virtual clinical trials as an enhanced alternative for the future. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

This book emphasizes treatment options for Parkinson's disease, providing the necessary clinical and scientific basis for the foundations of solid therapeutics.

This comprehensive reference provides a detailed overview of current concepts regarding the cause of Parkinson's disease-emphasizing the issues involved in the design, implementation, and analysis of epidemiological studies of parkinsonism.

On March 3-4, 2016, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders held a workshop in Washington, DC, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss opportunities for improving the integrity, efficiency, and validity of clinical trials for nervous system disorders. Participants in the workshop represented a range of diverse perspectives, including individuals not normally associated with traditional clinical trials. The purpose of this workshop was to generate discussion about not only what is feasible now, but what may be possible with the implementation of cutting-edge technologies in the future.

Despite being described about 200 years ago, the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is not well understood due to its complex etiology and heterogeneity of symptoms and progression. Animal models provide a great opportunity to follow the progression of neurodegeneration and to screen potent therapeutic molecules, knowledge of which can be critical for different levels of clinical trials. Contemporary health technologies are coming in handy to accelerate the pace of developing novel and refined therapeutic strategies for PD. This book, Parkinson’s Disease - Animal Models, Current Therapies and Clinical Trials, provides a comprehensive overview of PD, presenting information on animal models of PD and contemporary therapeutic strategies, health technologies, clinical trials, and their influence on the quality of life of patients with PD.

For many years, the need to develop valid tools to evaluate signs and symptoms of Parkinson Disease (PD) has been present. However the understanding of all intricacies of rating scales development was not widely available and the first attempts were relatively crude. In 2002, the Movement Disorders Society created a task force to systemize the measurement of Parkinson's Disease. Since then, the Task Force has produced and published several critiques to the available rating scales addressing both motor and non-motor domains of Parkinson Disease. Additionally the task force initiated a project to develop a new version of the UPDRS, the MDS-UPDRS. But none of this was made available in one convenient source. Until now. Rating Scales in Parkinson's Disease: Clinical Practice and Research is written for researchers from the medical and social sciences, and for health professionals wishing to evaluate the progress of their patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease. The book is both exhaustive in the description of the scales and informative on the advantages and limitations of each scale. As such, the text clearly guides readers on how to choose and use the instruments available. Extensive cross-referenced tables and charts closely integrate the parts of the book to facilitate readers in moving from one symptom domain to another.

This second volume follows on from Part I by reviewing the variety of animal models of PD current available (from drosophila to rodents to non-human primate species) and their specific contributions to PD research. This is followed by comprehensive coverage of functional neuroimaging studies that explore different pathophysiological questions and evaluate treatment outcome in PD patients. Different areas of experimental therapeutics and outstanding challenges to PD treatment are presented in a concluding group of articles. Complete overview of hot topics and approaches to current PD research, from molecules, to brain circuits, to clinical and therapeutic applications Leading authors review the state-of-the-art in their field of investigation, and provide their views and perspectives for future research All chapters include comprehensive background information and are written in a clear form that is also accessible to the non-specialist