Objectives
1. To develop diagnostic aids for non-specialist doctors, such as questionnaires appropriate for LMIC settings, and equipment that measures slowness of movement and tremor, the two major symptoms of PD.
2. To train doctors, nurses and therapists to improve diagnosis and management.
3. To develop and trial services for diagnosis and management of PD by non-specialists.
4. To undertake community-based studies of the number of people with PD (prevalence) in Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya, testing different diagnostic methods.
5. To develop a database of PD outpatients in different countries to enable a description of their characteristics.
6. To look at the effectiveness and side-effects of preparations of Mucuna pruriens (MP), a tropical plant, compared to Levodopa (standard drug treatment) in Tanzania.
7. To assess the response to drug treatment, with low-cost home monitoring with wearable movement sensors in PwP who consent.
8. To work with patient and carer support groups to understand lived experience, and raise public awareness via standard media techniques and social media.
9. To collaborate with the investigators on a large genetic project to collect blood and saliva samples for genetic analyses, as well as stool samples for microbiome analysis.