Twins and the Risk of Parkinson's Disease: A Clinical and Imaging Study

Twins and the Risk of PD: A Clinical and Imaging Study

Status

UNKNOWN

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00282802

Enrollment

250

Registered

2006-01-27

Start date

2001-04-30

Completion date

2010-07-31

Last updated

2009-07-02

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Parkinson's Disease

Keywords

Parkinson's Disease, twins, SPECT, National Academy of Sciences/National Resource Council (NAS/NRC) World War II Veteran Twins Cohort Registry, NAS/NRC, World War II Veteran Twins

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of genetic and environmental factors in the cause of Parkinson's disease.

Detailed description

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a growing health problem in the elderly, and genetic factors may provide substantial clues toward eventual treatment and/or prevention of the disorder. The National Academy of Sciences/National Resource Council (NAS/NRC) World War II (WWII) Veteran Twins Cohort Registry is one of the few population-based groups of elderly twins. Previous studies in this group indicated that genetic factors were involved only in early-onset PD, however there was no follow-up to these studies. The purpose of the Twins and the Risk of PD study is to follow-up previous studies and confirm the initial findings. In this study, investigators will use the NAS/NRC WWII Veteran Twin Cohort Registry to compare the concordance rates for PD in monozygotic and dizygotic twins-at least one of whom has PD. The overall goal of this research is determine the contributions of genetic and environmental factors in the cause of PD. The study will involve traditional clinical research methods, such as a clinical examination, as well as innovative imaging techniques, such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). SPECT-a nuclear imaging test involving blood flow to tissue-is used to evaluate certain brain functions. Findings from this study may help to set research priorities in PD, and to develop tools for early detection of the disorder.

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

COHORT

Time perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

MALE

Age

77 Years to 88 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion: * Participants will be recruited from a closed cohort-the National Academy of Sciences/National Resource Council (NAS/NRC) World War II Veteran Twins Cohort

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Onset of Parkinson's disease	duration of the project

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Age of Parkinson's disease onset	duration of the project

Countries

United States

Outcome results