Understanding Parkinson's Disease

In Australia, there are 70,000 cases of Parkinson’s disease (PD), 1 in every 340 Australians, and it costs the Australian economy more than $1.1 billion each year. Since the incidence of Parkinson’s is expected to double by 2030, the search for a cure for the disease is critical. Before a cure can be developed, however, we need to understand more about the factors that can lead to the development of PD. One major risk factor for the disease is traumatic brain injury (TBI), but it is not yet clear how TBI can lead to the brain changes seen in PD, often decades after the original injury. NeuroSurgical Research Foundation funded researcher, Dr Lyndsey Collins Praino, is investigating how brain inflammation changes over time, and whether this is associated with brain changes characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Understanding this brain mechanism may be a critical first step in the development of a new treatment strategy for PD.

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