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Parkinson’s at 200 years: an update on Parkinson’s research in 2017

Published on August 31, 2017   39 min

Other Talks in the Series: Periodic Reports: Advances in Clinical Interventions and Research Platforms

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0:00
Hello, my name is Patrick Lewis, and I'm an Associate Professor in The School of Pharmacy at the University of Reading. In this talk, I'll be providing a review of Parkinson's Research in 2016 and 2017, moving towards the 200th anniversary of James Parkinson's publication of his essay on the Shaking Palsy.
0:24
2017 marks an important milestone in Parkinson's research as it has been 200 years since the publication of the Shaking Palsy by James Parkinson, which first described the disease that we now know as Parkinson's Disease; And shown here, on the right hand of the slide is an image of a Parkinson's patient, one of the first images we have of such a patient, drawn by Jean-Martin Charcot working in Paris, who was one of the key people in giving the disease Parkinson's name in honour of his contribution. And we have made a huge amount of progress in those 200 years.
1:06
Over the past year, we have seen a number of public events that have also brought Parkinson's to the public attention. Most notably, the death of Muhammad Ali who suffered from Parkinson's for many years before his death in 2016. And so 2017 is a good period in which to reflect on our progress and understanding of Parkinson's disease.
1:30
We actually know quite a lot about the underlying pathology of Parkinson's disease. This is an image of the human mid-brain showing the damage which is inflicted in Parkinson's. In particular, the region of the brain called the substantia nigra, which is highlighted here in a Parkinson's patient, and a non-Parkinson's patient above. The loss of the pigmentation in this area is due to the huge loss of dopaminergic neuron, and it is this which underpins many of the symptoms which define Parkinson's disease.
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Parkinson’s at 200 years: an update on Parkinson’s research in 2017

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