Clinical trials

Background and Rationale Essential tremor (ET) affects over 6 million Americans and approximately 5% of adults over age 60. Patients with ET have a 10-20 times higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD) compared to age-matched populations, with approximately 1% converting to PD annually. Post-mortem studies reveal Lewy body pathology in some ET patients, suggesting a subset may have prodromal PD. Current diagnostic tools (DaTscan, SYNTap) are either insufficiently sensitive for early disease, too expensive, or too invasive for routine screening. The Syn-One Test offers a minimally invasive approach to detect phosphorylated α-synuclein (P-SYN) pathology in skin biopsies. Primary Objectives 1. Identify which ET patients have P-SYN pathology indicative of prodromal PD 2. Predict which patients are most likely to phenoconvert to PD

The goal of this observational study is to learn whether tissue samples taken from the colon during routine colonoscopy can detect signs of Parkinson's disease or REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD). The main question it aims to answer is: Can doctors find a protein called alpha-synuclein in colon tissue samples from people with Parkinson's disease and RBD? Currently, Parkinson's disease is diagnosed by observing symptoms like tremors and movement problems and RBD by loss of muscle atonia during REM sleep, but by then the disease has already progressed significantly. Earlier detection could help doctors start treatment sooner.

The goal of this observational study is to learn whether tissue samples taken from the colon during routine colonoscopy can detect signs of Parkinson's disease. The main question it aims to answer is: Can doctors find a protein called alpha-synuclein in colon tissue samples from people with Parkinson's disease? Currently, Parkinson's disease is diagnosed by observing symptoms like tremors and movement problems, but by then the disease has already progressed significantly. Earlier detection could help doctors start treatment sooner.