The second phase of the clinical study for Parkinson's disease with associated dementia begins
- Eric Freire Álvarez
The Parkinson 's disease affects approximately 300,000 people in Spain and is estimated that 1 in 3 patients have dementia. Dementia associated with Parkinson's disease is characterized by severe alterations in mental functions, including memory, the ability to pay attention, the ability to produce sound judgments and plan the steps necessary to complete a task. Despite the high prevalence of Parkinson's disease with associated dementia, the second phase clinical trial ANAVEX 2-73 is the only study currently in the European Union and is taking place in Spain.
"Despite the high frequency of association between Parkinson's disease and cognitive impairment or dementia, treatment options are limited and will be more than 15 years without new pharmacological developments in this field," says Eric Freire Álvarez , MD specialist in neurology at the General University Hospital of Elche and the IMED Elche hospital, and one of the researchers of the phase II study of ANAVEX®2-73 for the treatment of Parkinson's with Dementia. "Parkinson's disease is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disease, after Alzheimer's disease, having a high prevalence in elderly people, but also being present in younger people. In addition, it is expected thatit becomes a much greater public health problem in the world in the coming decades. It is important to bear in mind that it is not an exclusively motor disease, since it is also associated with multiple non-motor symptoms, among which are alterations in behavior and cognitive deterioration or dementia, "says the specialist.
According to data from the Spanish Society of Neurology, the number of patients with Parkinson's disease will double in the next 20 years and will triple by 2050. This increase in prevalence will occur due to the increase in life expectancy, the development of new diagnostic solutions and therapeutic and due to a greater awareness of this disease of great prevalence in society and that despite requiring an early diagnosis is treatable.
In addition, the dementia associated with Parkinson's disease increases as the disease evolves and represents an important repercussion for the patient's functional capacity and for their family environment, even going so far as to imply a reduction in the life expectancy of these patients.
Clinical study ANAVEX® 2-73
The first phase of the ANAVEX® 2-73 trials for Parkinson's disease with associated dementia was carried out thanks to a research grant awarded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's disease research, a foundation created by the well-known American actor of the same name who suffers from this disease. The second phase of the study is being developed entirely in Spain. Currently, 20 hospitals throughout the national territory are actively participating, which aims to bring together a total of 150 patients participating in the study. However, research is already under way in some hospitals.
The Spanish hospitals that participate in the study are: HM Puerta del Sur Hospital (Móstoles), Infanta Leonor Hospital (Madrid), Henares Hospital (Coslada), Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital (Madrid), La Princesa Hospital (Madrid), San Carlos Clinical Hospital (Madrid), Ramón y Cajal Hospital (Madrid), Ruber International Clinic (Madrid), Puerta del Mar University Hospital (Cádiz), Virgen del Rocío University Hospital (Seville), General University Hospital of Elche (Elche), Hospital Sant Joan de Reus (Reus), Hospital of Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona), University Hospital Vall d'Hebron (Barcelona), Santa Caterina Hospital (Girona), University Hospital of Navarra (CUN) (Navarra), Hospital University of Burgos (Burgos), Central University Hospital of Asturias (Oviedo),University Clinical Hospital of Santiago de Compostela (Santiago de Compostela), Architect Hospital Marcide (Ferrol).
