What might a cure for Parkinson’s look like and how can we achieve it?

Currently there is no cure for Parkinson’s but we believe there are three research steps focused on curing the disease; areas that slow, stop and reverse the condition.

1. Stopping Parkinson’s from progressing – Parkinson’s is a progressive disease, which means gradually, over time, the symptoms get worse. Therefore, the first step in correcting Parkinson’s is to identify agents that will slow or stop the condition from advancing.

Stopping disease progression

2. Restoring lost function  – Once the disease progression is slowed or halted, it will be important to replace the cells and their function that have been lost to Parkinson’s. Dopamine cell replacement therapies represent a viable treatment approach here.  

Find out more about…
The science behind Parkinson’s Cure Parkinson’s webinars Our research strategy The International Linked Clinical Trials Programme (iLCT) Parkinson’s drug therapies in the clinical trial pipeline: 2023 update
A restorative therapy – cell replacement

3. Protecting the brain cells affected by Parkinson’s – Once the progression of the condition has been slowed, it will be important to provide a supportive and nurturing environment for the surviving cells by identifying treatments that have a protective effect.

Protecting nerve cells in the brain

Cure Parkinson’s is supporting research in all three of these potential treatment areas; and through our International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT) programme, we have clinical studies evaluating all aspects focused towards a cure, which aim to bring new treatments to the clinic for the Parkinson’s community.

Find out more about our International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT) programme

At first glance the task ahead of us seems insurmountable, but there is already a huge amount of research being conducted at clinical level across all three components of a cure for Parkinson’s. And through clinical trials supported by Cure Parkinson’s we are seeing the first signs of potentially disease-modifying therapies. It is an exciting time for Parkinson’s research.

Dr Simon Stott, Deputy Director of Research, Cure Parkinson’s

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