Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that belongs to a group of conditions called movement disorders.  It is both chronic, meaning it persists over a long period of time, and progressive, meaning its symptoms grow worse over time.

As nerve cells (neurons) in parts of the brain become impaired or die, people may begin to notice problems with movement, tremor, stiffness in the limbs or the trunk of the body, or impaired balance.  As these motor symptoms become more pronounced, people may have difficulty walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks.  Not everyone with one or more of these symptoms has PD, as the symptoms appear in other diseases as well.

Medical treatment of PD focuses on improving motor symptoms using medications, surgery, and behavior modifications, such as increasing physical activity.

If you are a patient interested in treatments for Parkinson’s Disease or in participating in one of our research studies, please contact:

Mae P. Brooks
Patient Care Coordinator
Parkinson Clinic
Office of the Clinical Director
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
CRC Room 5-1469 NE
10 Center Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Phone: (301) 496-4604 or 800-362-3479
Fax: (301) 496-6609
brooksm@ninds.nih.gov


OR

Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office toll-free at: 
1-800-411-1222
TTY: 1-866-411-1010

Parkinson’s Disease Care Providers at NIH:

Physician

Debra Ehrlich, MD	Mark Hallett, MD	Codrin Lungu, MD

Nurse Practitioners

Irene Dustin, PhD, CRNP

Coordinators

Mae P. Brooks

Studies Actively Recruiting Patients:

01-N-0206   Phenotype/Genotype Correlations in Movement Disorders
14-N-0086   Deep Brain Stimulation in Movement Disorders
11-N-0211    Deep Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorder
12-N-0137   A Phase 1 Open-Label Dose Escalation Safety Study of Convection Enhanced Delivery (CED) of Adeno-Associated Virus Encoding Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (AAV2-GDNF) in Subjects with Advanced Parkinson's Disease

For more information on Parkinson’s Disease:

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Parkinsons-Disease-Information-Page

Related Links:

ClinicalTrials.gov