(Press-News.org) A new pilot study in Parkinson's disease suggests a new era of clinical research which removes the barrier of distance for both scientists and volunteers. The research, which appears in the journal Digital Health, could also enable researchers to leverage the rapid growth in personal genetic testing to better diagnose, and potentially treat, a wide range of diseases.
"These findings demonstrate that remote recruitment and conduct of research visits is feasible and well-received by participants," said Ray Dorsey, M.D., M.B.A., a neurologist at the University of Rochester and lead author of the study. "Direct-to-consumer genetic testing, when paired with telemedicine, has the potential to involve more people in clinical research and accelerate the process of identifying the genetic causes and variations in chronic diseases such as Parkinson's"
"Giving clinicians the ability to recruit and assess patients remotely for research and clinical trials is a game changer," said Emily Drabant Conley, Ph.D., a research scientist and director of business development with 23andMe, and co-author of the study. "Leveraging genetically-defined groups of patients through direct-to-consumer genetic testing combined with self-reported data and remote assessment opens up exciting frontiers in research and may allow us to do things at a scale and speed that was previously not possible."
Parkinson's is a complex multi-system disease with many known genetic "clues" and a wide range of patient experiences, both in terms of the severity and progression of symptoms and an individual patient's responsiveness to the several available forms of treatment. While researchers have been able to identify many of the different phenotypes of the disease, this variation makes the process of diagnosis and treatment a challenge.
The ideal solution would be to identify the genetic signature of the various phenotypes and understand more precisely how these different forms of the disease are manifested in terms of symptoms and what treatments, or combination of treatments, provide the most effective relief.
However, this has proven to be a highly difficult undertaking given the previous high cost of genetic testing and the logistical obstacle of having to recruit from a geographically diverse pool of volunteers in order to create a sample large enough to arrive at scientifically meaningful conclusions.
Two new technologies now make this task possible: direct-to-consumer genetic testing - and the recent rapid decline in the cost of genetic sequencing - and telemedicine.
Researchers at the University of Rochester and Johns Hopkins University partnered with 23andMe, a personal genomics and biotechnology company based in California, to conduct a pilot study to determine if individuals with known genetic risk factors for Parkinson's disease could be diagnosed for the condition via telemedicine. The researchers also wanted to test the feasibility of conducting clinical research remotely.
Working with 23andMe and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the researchers were able to ultimately recruit 50 individuals in 23 states who agreed to undergo a remote assessment consisting of cognitive and motor tests via a secure video conferencing developed by Vidyo. The participants also completed a survey.
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The study found that physicians at a single site were able to successfully and rapidly diagnose and categorize patients located across the country. The findings could point the way for new and more cost effective methods to recruit participants for clinical trials and make participation in clinical research more convenient - and potentially more inviting - for volunteers.
Addition co-authors of the study include Kristin Darwin, Sean Donohue, and Alyssa Tethal with Johns Hopkins University, Samara Mohammed, and Nicholas Eriksson with 23andMe, and Susan Ward, Elaine Caughey, and Bernard Ravina with Biogen Idec. The study was funded by Biogen Idec and 23andMe.
July 16, 2015 - Did you belong to community, sports, or other clubs in your teens? If so, you might be more likely to survive into your late seventies, suggests a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
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Previously identified associations between TV viewing and a less healthful diet may stem from exposure to advertisements of high calorie foods and 'distracted eating' rather than the activity of sitting itself, although sitting time remains an independent risk factor requiring public health focus. These findings are according to a new study by American Cancer Society investigators conducted in collaboration with the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition and the University of Texas School of Public Health. For their study, published in Preventive Medicine, researchers examined ...
The following press release and accompanying images can be found at: http://news.agu.org/press-release/suns-activity-controls-greenland-temperatures/
Sun's activity controls Greenland temperatures
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Leigh Cooper
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The sun's activity could be affecting a key ocean circulation mechanism that plays an important role in regulating Greenland's climate, according to a new study. The phenomenon could be partially responsible for cool temperatures the island experienced in the late 20th century and potentially ...
WASHINGTON -- A new multispectral microscope, one capable of processing nearly 17 billion pixels representing 13 individual color channels in a single image, has been successfully demonstrated by a team of researchers from the United States and Australia. This is the largest such microscopic image ever created. This level of multicolor detail is essential for studying the impact of experimental drugs on biological samples and is an important advancement over traditional microscope designs, which have fallen short when it comes to imaging large, spectrally diverse samples. ...
(Boston)--Having high blood pressure in your 50's may impact your ability to keep track or plan ahead in your 80's.
This study reports a connection between high blood pressure at a younger age can affect cognition many years later. It currently appears in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
Life expectancy is on the rise and people the age of 80 are the fastest growing demographic in the world. Several studies have demonstrated that high cardiovascular risk at midlife, particularly hypertension, is linked to subsequent increased risk of dementia. However, there is ...
A newly identified species of feathered dinosaur is the largest ever discovered to have a well-preserved set of bird-like wings, research suggests.
Palaeontologists working in China unearthed the fossil remains of the winged dinosaur - a close cousin of Velociraptor, which was made famous by the Jurassic Park films.
Researchers say its wings - which are very short compared with other dinosaurs in the same family - consisted of multiple layers of large feathers. They found that the species' feathers were complex structures made up of fine branches stemming from a central ...
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The CONVERGE Consortium is comprised of international research organizations, including BGI, University of Oxford, Virginia Commonwealth University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, etc.
Major depressive disorder, one of the most frequently encountered forms of mental illness and a leading cause ...
Scientists at VIB and KU Leuven have discovered that the protein APP plays a significant role in the development of fragile X syndrome (FXS) at young stages. They identified an unexpected biological pathway as a promising target to ameliorate deficits associated with FXS and autism. The results have recently been published in Neuron, one of the most influential journals in the field of neuroscience.
FXS is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability worldwide, and the most frequent cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The syndrome is a consequence ...
uman-induced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the atmosphere are projected to rise to up to 30 gigatonnes of carbon per year by 2100, assuming a "business-as-usual" scenario. As a result, global mean temperatures are projected to increase by almost five degrees Celsius. According to a team of scientists from the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science and GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, these changes might have the power to shift ...
