Clinical Trends for August 2017

Ryan Syrek

Disclosures

September 01, 2017

Each week, we identify one top search term, speculate as to what caused its popularity, and provide an infographic on a related condition. If you have thoughts about what's trending and why, feel free to share them with us on Twitter or Facebook!

Clinical Trend of the Week (August 26 – September 1): Parkinson's Disease

A trio of new studies are responsible for this week's top search term. First up, a new retrospective, case-control analysis found that patients with Parkinson disease, commonly referred to as Parkinson's disease, have a nearly 4-fold increased risk of having preexisting melanoma and that those with melanoma have a similar risk of developing Parkinson disease. Although the study's authors did not strongly recommend screening for all such patients, they did recommend that physicians counsel patients with melanoma about the risk for Parkinson disease and vice versa. A separate study compared specialist care for Parkinson disease using virtual house calls with traditional in-office visits. The findings showed increased patient satisfaction and preference for the virtual house calls, with a significant benefit of reduced time and burden of travel. Finally, a new randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial suggested that the type 2 diabetes drug exenatide may potentially have disease-modifying effects in patients with Parkinson disease. The study found that the medication was associated with improved off-medication motor scores, with benefits persisting for several weeks after discontinuation of the drug. From a significant newly documented association with another serious condition to potential new ways to provide care and treatment, this search term had many reasons for an increase in popularity.

For more information on Parkinson disease, read here.

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