New Parkinson's clinic sees first patients
Oct 2019: Welcome to Dr David Breen as he starts his new Parkinson's clinic.
The beginning of October saw the first patients attending the new Parkinson's clinic run by Dr David Breen, consultant neurologist.
Parkinson's is a degenerative brain disorder affecting 12,000 people in Scotland and around 150,000 in the UK. It's an incurable condition that is characterised by movement problems, including slowness, rigidity and tremor. It can also cause non-motor symptoms (including dementia in the later stages).
The new Parkinson's clinic, which is part of the Dundee and Edinburgh Parkinson's Research Initiative, will see people who have been referred by their GP or other care professionals. During routine NHS assessments with patients, staff will collect a variety of health-related information (age, lifestyle and environment, Parkinson's symptoms and medications) to give a rich picture of the individual and their Parkinson's subtype. Working with collaborators in the UK and across the world, it is hoped that the data collected will help researchers identify clinical and biological factors that influence progression in Parkinsons. It will also enable tailored recruitment to clinical trials and research projects that are most suitable for them.
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