{"id":2085,"date":"2019-01-22T11:02:58","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T16:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parkinsonpost.com\/?p=2085"},"modified":"2019-01-22T11:02:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T16:02:58","slug":"helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Parkinson\u2019s patients confront the problems their treatment causes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Dr. Douglas Munoz
Queen\u2019s University<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

A combined assessment of eye movements and genetic factors promises to shed new light on drug-related problems in Parkinson\u2019s disease patients. While medication to boost dopamine levels in the nervous system can restore movement control to many patients, this sharp increase in dopamine can also lead to unwanted cognitive changes such as impulsive behaviour followed by an equally sharp crash and general lethargy. An expanded study will look for indicators to identify individuals at risk of entering this cycle.<\/p>\n

Poets long ago claimed our eyes to be a window into the mysteries of the soul. It turns out these vital organs are also portals allowing modern scientists to probe the daunting frontier of the human brain. In fact, some of the most recent and promising research on neurological disorders relies on observing something as simple as how our eyes move when we are carrying out mental tasks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis system has become a key tool to study cognition,\u201d explains Doug Munoz, who maps eye movements as a way of determining how the brain is sending signals to the rest of the body. \u201cIf I understand the circuit through someone\u2019s brain, I\u2019m going to be able to map their abnormality onto that circuit and pinpoint where in their brain something\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Munoz, a professor in Queen\u2019s University\u2019s Centre for Neuroscience Studies, is specifically interested in tracking how individuals with Parkinson\u2019s disease respond to medications that increase dopamine levels in the nervous system. While this approach can relieve many obvious symptoms, such as restoring motor control, some people suffer from major swings in dopamine levels that generate entirely new problems, such as impulsive behaviour. His research is made possible through a Pilot Project Grant of $50,000 for one year, from Pedaling for Parkinson\u2019s in honour of John Bannister.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients can end up gambling wildly in casinos or making other poor decisions,\u201d he says. At the same time, when dopamine levels crash these individuals become lethargic and prompted to take more drugs. As this cycle continues they may seldom have appropriate muscle or cognitive control, and have few alternatives for treatment.<\/p>\n

By examining the eye movements of people with Parkinson\u2019s coping with this challenge, Munoz is hoping to find a pattern that could reveal who is most susceptible to these negative consequences. If these observations can then be paired with saliva samples taken from participants, he suggests, it might be possible to pin down genetic factors at work to identify susceptible patients before they start on medication.<\/p>\n

Initial findings at Queen\u2019s have pointed in that direction, he adds, and support from Parkinson Canada is now enabling him to extend this work to two other Ontario research centres. With a larger pool of test subjects and much more data, Munoz is looking forward to solving one of the most frustrating and most challenging aspects of treating Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I understand the circuit through someone\u2019s brain, I\u2019m going to be able to map their abnormality onto that circuit and pinpoint where in their brain something\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Read about\u00a0other researchers<\/a>\u00a0recently funded by the Parkinson Canada Research Program by visiting the research section of\u00a0archiveparkinson.thedev.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A combined assessment of eye movements and genetic factors promises to shed new light on drug-related problems in Parkinson\u2019s disease … En savoir plus<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":2088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[237],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHelping Parkinson\u2019s patients confront the problems their treatment causes - Parkinson Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Helping Parkinson\u2019s patients confront the problems their treatment causes - Parkinson Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A combined assessment of eye movements and genetic factors promises to shed new light on drug-related problems in Parkinson\u2019s disease ... En savoir plus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Parkinson Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parkinsoncanada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-22T16:02:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/DougMunoz2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"145\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"193\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"communications@parkinson.ca\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ParkinsonCanada\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ParkinsonCanada\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u00c9crit par\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"communications@parkinson.ca\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/\",\"name\":\"Helping Parkinson\u2019s patients confront the problems their treatment causes - Parkinson Canada\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-22T16:02:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-22T16:02:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/03860c23b3c90c09c6aade3ba61072d9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Helping Parkinson\u2019s patients confront the problems their treatment causes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/\",\"name\":\"Parkinson Canada\",\"description\":\"Empowering the Parkinson's community across Canada\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/03860c23b3c90c09c6aade3ba61072d9\",\"name\":\"communications@parkinson.ca\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/931eabe92f8bed16e93390bff0d660ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/931eabe92f8bed16e93390bff0d660ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"communications@parkinson.ca\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Helping Parkinson\u2019s patients confront the problems their treatment causes - Parkinson Canada","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Helping Parkinson\u2019s patients confront the problems their treatment causes - Parkinson Canada","og_description":"A combined assessment of eye movements and genetic factors promises to shed new light on drug-related problems in Parkinson\u2019s disease ... En savoir plus","og_url":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/","og_site_name":"Parkinson Canada","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parkinsoncanada\/","article_published_time":"2019-01-22T16:02:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":145,"height":193,"url":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/DougMunoz2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"communications@parkinson.ca","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ParkinsonCanada","twitter_site":"@ParkinsonCanada","twitter_misc":{"\u00c9crit par":"communications@parkinson.ca","Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/","url":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/","name":"Helping Parkinson\u2019s patients confront the problems their treatment causes - Parkinson Canada","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-01-22T16:02:58+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-22T16:02:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/03860c23b3c90c09c6aade3ba61072d9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/helping-parkinsons-patients-confront-the-problems-their-treatment-causes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Helping Parkinson\u2019s patients confront the problems their treatment causes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/","name":"Parkinson Canada","description":"Empowering the Parkinson's community across Canada","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/03860c23b3c90c09c6aade3ba61072d9","name":"communications@parkinson.ca","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/931eabe92f8bed16e93390bff0d660ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/931eabe92f8bed16e93390bff0d660ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"communications@parkinson.ca"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archiveparkinson.thedev.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}