Parkinson's researcher now sees the disease in mirror

A scientist who helped discover the genetic basis of Parkinsons disease, only to be diagnosed with the disease herself, will be in Tucson this weekend to talk about her experience.

When she was 64, Alice Lazzarini was forced to shift from a career of looking at Parkinsons disease through the microscope to looking at it in the mirror. While drug treatments havent changed much in the last two decades, Lazzarini said theres a lot of hope for Parkinsons patients on the horizon, perhaps in her own lifetime.

Lazzarini, now 74, will be one of two keynote speakers at the local Optimism Summit & Expo hosted by the American Parkinsons Disease Associations Arizona chapter.

At least 20,000 Arizonans have Parkinsons disease, though officials with the local American Parkinsons Disease Association believe that is an undercount because the number includes only people covered by Medicare.

Parkinsons is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimers disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The population prevalence increases from about 1 percent at age 60 to 4 percent by age 80. Early symptoms include tremor, rigidity and difficulty walking; cognitive decline is common at later stages.

Lazzarini, who wrote a book titled, Both Sides Now: A Journey from Researcher to Patient, spoke with the Star by telephone from her New Jersey home Wednesday. Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q: The Michael J. Fox Foundation is supporting research into a vaccine targeting alpha-synuclein, which was identified by the work you did 20 years ago.

A: Now it has finally come full circle and they are actually targeting that protein. Its really thrilling. It is personally rewarding and very exciting. Millions and millions is being put into alpha-synuclein research alone.

Q: You must have been shocked to find out you had the disease that you had been researching for so long.

A: In 2004, I was working for a pharmaceutical company on a drug development for Parkinsons and I had to, as part of that project, lead a meeting in London for Parkinsons experts to help us design the clinical trial we were going to use to study this drug.

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Parkinson's researcher now sees the disease in mirror