THE ESSENTIAL
- 25,000 new people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease each year in France according to Inserm.
- Between 1990 and 2015, it is estimated that the number of patients with Parkinson’s has more than doubled in France, mainly due to the aging of the population.
In France, 160,000 people have Parkinson’s disease, according to theNational Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). After Alzheimer’s, it is the second most frequent degenerative pathology in France. This is characterized by three main motor symptoms, which make it possible to establish the diagnosis. First of all, the tremors, which mainly concern the hands and arms. Akinesia then, that is to say when the individual feels a slowness in the implementation and coordination of his movements. And, finally, hypertension, which is an abnormal rigidity of the muscles.
The treatment of Parkinson’s with dopamine…
Screening as early as possible is very important because it allows treatment to begin at the beginning of the pathology because, currently, no treatment can cure Parkinson’s. The only solutions offered to patients are to improve their quality of life and slow the progression of the disease, nadministrative administration dopamine which compensates for the effects linked to neurodegeneration. Indeed, at the cerebral level, Parkinson’s is mainly characterized by the progressive degeneration of dopamine neurons. It is a very important neurotransmitter for many functions including movement.
…soon delivered by an electric pump?
The way dopamine is administered might well evolve in the next few years and be done through an electric pump. It is on this project that a start-up from Lille is working, InBrain Pharma, and the city university hospital. They are currently conducting a clinical trial to test this device, which will deliver dopamine directly into patients’ brains. Concretely, “an electric pump containing the drug is implanted in the abdomen and will send dopamine to the brain via a catheter”, explains Matthieu Fisichella, Director of InBrain Pharma, at 20 Minutes.
About 20,000 euros to install the electric pump
The results of this first clinical trial are promising: “With a treatment dose of 200 mg/24h, patients achieve perfect symptom control for 80% of their day”, assure David Devos, neurologist at Lille University Hospital. Another advantage of this method: it is less invasive and more ergonomic than current ones such as, for example, the external pump. The only downside remains the price which is around 20,000 euros for the installation of the electric pump. But this “will be quickly compensated by the cessation of autonomy aids which will no longer be necessary“, believes David Devos. The creators plan regarding twenty clinical trials before considering its marketing… if all goes well, from 2028.
