Tremor, rigidity, balance problems, speech dysfunction, depression, and loss of sense of taste and smell. All symptoms of a condition many people have little knowledge about. To raise global awareness for Parkinson’s disease, the birthday of Sir James Parkinson, the man who first described the condition, is celebrated every year on 11 April.

Key to the cure
Parkinsons's disease usually affects old people, but the very young may provide the key to the cure. "Genes that regulate embryonic brain development may dysfunction in PD”, says Dr Sten Linnarsson, Assistant Professor at Karolinska Institutet. Dr Linnarsson is Scientific Coordinator of DDPDGENES, a research collaboration of Parkinson's disease experts from Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and Spain.

Restore lost cells
"There is no cure for PD, but a possible future treatment is to restore the lost cells using laboratory-produced cells. This can only be successful if we know exactly which cell types and genes are involved in PD”, Dr Linnarsson explains on the newly released www.HorizonHealth.eu DDPDGENES project page.

YouTube
Approximately 4 to 6 million people worldwide, of whom 1.2 million are EU citizens, suffer from PD. More on Parkinson's on the website of EPDA, the European Parkinson's umbrella organisation. Also check their film on YouTube.