James Rhodes
People talk about Parkinson’s disease like it works the same everywhere, but the paper “Towards a Global View of Parkinson's Disease Genetics” points out that we’ve actually been looking at a pretty limited view. Most of the big genetic studies have focused on people of European ancestry, so a lot of what we think we know is based on just one group. Once researchers started including people from more diverse backgrounds, they found new genetic risk factors that only show up in certain populations. Basically, we’ve been missing pieces of the puzzle, and Parkinson’s genetics isn’t the same for everyone in every situation.
The paper also explains that polygenic risk scores tools meant to predict someone’s genetic risk work way better for Europeans than for anyone else. Since people from different populations have different genetic patterns, a score built for one group doesn’t translate well to another. That means some communities could end up with less accurate info or fewer benefits from future treatments. The authors say the fix is simple. Make studies more global, collect more consistent data, and actually connect with the communities being studied. In short, if we want Parkinson’s research and treatments to help everyone, the science needs to include everyone too.
Original Paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ana.26905
Link for more information on Parkinsons: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/parkinsons-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20376055
Labels: Parkinson's, Neurodegeneration, Brain
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