Have it read aloud!

A new medical guideline on Parkinson's has been available for a few days now.

But what is a medical guideline and how and where is it used?

A medical guideline is a documented procedure for diagnosis and Therapy in specific medical areas.

It is based on current scientific findings and clinical experience and serves to ensure and improve the quality of patient care.

Guidelines provide recommendations on how to approach specific diseases or conditions to achieve the best patient outcome.

They are created by professional societies or other medical organizations and are often an important source of information and decision-making aid for doctors and medical staff.
The new guidelines in detail:

• The terms “Parkinson's disease” and “Idiopathic Parkinson's syndrome” have often been used interchangeably. Based on new findings about genetic variants that can cause Parkinson's, the DGN now the more general term “Parkinson’s disease”.
• The new S2k guideline “Parkinson” was published by the German Society for Neurology, briefly DGN, presented and can be commented on until October 24th.
• When making a diagnosis, the severity of non-motor symptoms should be taken into account for prognosis assessments.
• Cranial magnetic resonance imaging is recommended early in the course of the disease for differential diagnosis.
• If there is a certain family history of illness or if the disease manifests itself before the age of 50, a diagnostic genetic test should be offered.
• The same drug therapy recommendations apply to monogenic Parkinson's disease as to genetically complex Parkinson's disease. One Deep brain stimulation is possible for both types of Parkinson's.
• Invasive procedures should be considered if problems with levodopa occur that are not improved by oral or transdermal therapy.
• The decision for a particular procedure should be based not only on motor symptoms, but also on non-motor symptoms, patient characteristics, and patient preferences. An interdisciplinary case conference is recommended.
• Patients should be informed about possible invasive treatments as soon as fluctuations occur.

The new guideline therefore appears to address both diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of Parkinson's disease and aims to optimize the treatment and understanding of the disease.

The guideline is a so-called consultation version.

An Consultation version is a preliminary version of a document or guideline presented to a specific group or the public for review and consultation.

It is intended to collect feedback, suggestions, criticism or comments from stakeholders, experts or other stakeholders before the final version of the document or guideline is determined.

In the context of medical guidelines, as in this case with the DGN Parkinson's guidelines, the consultation version allows experts and other relevant stakeholders to examine the proposed recommendations and procedures.

They can then give their opinions or suggestions on what might need to be adjusted or improved. This process helps increase the quality, acceptability and applicability of the final guideline.

The fact that the DGN has released the guideline for comment until October 24, 2024 suggests that it values ​​receiving feedback and opinions from the professional community or possibly also from patient groups before publishing the final version of the guideline becomes. This highlights the collaborative and transparent approach that is often taken when creating medical guidelines.