Excerpt: “This is a very well done epidemiological study,” David Standaert, MD, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told MedPage Today in an email. The finding that the risk of death from PD has not changed in 30 years in Minnesota’s Olmsted County is “worth noting,” said Standaert. “It suggests that while newer treatments may be improving the quality of life for PD patients, they are not making them live longer.”
Excerpt: “This is more research out of the Mayo Rochester Epidemiology Project, looking at 461 people in Olmsted County, MN who were diagnosed with a synucleinopathy with parkinsonism between 1991 and 2010. Synucleinopathies included were Parkinson’s Disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Parkinson’s Disease Dementia (PDD), and multiple system atrophy-parkinsonism (MSA-p). These were matched with county residents without parkinsonism.”
Excerpt: “These findings line up with results from smaller studies and clinical experience even though the study population “may not be representative of other regions of the country,” said Standaert, who wasn’t affiliated with the study.”
Excerpt: “I think these data are useful in a clinical setting in counseling patients about the effect of these diseases on their life, and what they should expect,” Standaert told MedPage Today. “On a broader sense, they are important for evaluating the public health impact of synucleinopathy and for planning clinical trials of disease-modifying agents.”