Parkinson’s disease affects approximately 10 million people worldwide. It usually starts in a way asymmetricfirst affecting a single side of the body. If it manifests itself first by Motor symptoms – like tremors, slowness of movements or muscle rigidity – it also causes Cognitive, anxious or depressive disorderswhose evolution is still little understood and studied. It was on this track that a Geneva team has looked.
A more predictive side of the body than we imagined
Published in the journal NPJ Parkinson’s Diseasethis study conducted by researchers from the University of Geneva and the HUG shows that The side of the body reached by Parkinson’s disease influences directly on the nature and severity of non -motor symptoms.
Patients whose motor disorders begin on the right side of the body (which implies a dominant involvement of the left cerebral hemisphere) present A higher risk of global cognitive declinewhich can lead to dementia. Conversely, those whose disease begins left side (therefore further involving the right hemisphere) suffer more often from emotional and psychiatric disorderslike depression, anxiety, or a difficulty in recognizing emotions.
These results highlight asymmetrical mechanisms hitherto neglected. “These results constitute a crucial advance for the study of non -motor symptoms of the disease, long mischievous by research,” explains Julie Péronprofessor of emotional neuroscience at the University of Geneva and co-author of the study.
A new compass for more targeted therapies
The study opens the way to a more personalized support of Parkinson’s disease, integrating the “Asymmetrical pattern” of the patient from the diagnosis. Clearly: knowing the side of the affected body would not only anticipate the motor symptoms, but also predict cognitive or emotional complicationsand Better adapt the treatments – Whether drug, psychological, or neurosurgical.
In the scientific article, the authors judges that motor asymmetry could even influence the effectiveness of certain interventions: “motor asymmetry could also influence the responses to treatment, in particular the results of deep brain stimulation”. A remark taken up by Philippe Voruzneuropsychologist and first author of the study: “This taking into account would allow real anticipation and orientation of the person to targeted therapies according to their Pattern Parkinsonian “.
This paradigm shift is all the more essential as the non -motor symptoms, often less visible but just as disabling, are still not integrated into conventional care paths.
By giving back its place to the asymmetry of the body in Parkinson’s disease, the Geneva team offers a Innovative reading key of its evolution. An advance that could well transform the way of diagnosing, monitoring and treating this complex pathology.