Parkinson’s, Genes and Environment (PAGE) Study

Dear Diet and Health Study Participants:

First of all, we would like to thank you for providing important information on your diet and lifestyle in our previous surveys. In addition to cancer research, this information is extremely valuable for understanding the causes of a wide range of chronic diseases in older Americans.

We are now about to initiate a new study to find the causes of Parkinson’s disease. This new study, the Parkinson’s, Genes and Environment (PAGE) Study, is a collaborative effort between us and another branch of NIH, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The purpose of this new study is to determine the effects of diet, lifestyle, and other environmental and genetic factors on the risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s Disease is a common brain disease among elderly people, affecting more than 1% of elderly Americans. For your information, we have prepared a brief Fact Sheet on Parkinson’s disease.

The PAGE study is designed to investigate the environmental and genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease. In this project, we will confirm the disease diagnosis for those who reported Parkinson’s disease in our recent survey (2004-2006). We will also collect saliva samples from Parkinson’s patients and some selected participants without Parkinson’s disease. To learn more about the study and how you can help, please read our short study materials: Patient Invitation Letter, Control Invitation Letter, Patient Brochure and Control Brochure.

Please note that for the saliva collection in the PAGE study, all you need to do is to spit 2 milliliters of saliva into the collection kits we send to you; please visit Saliva Collection Instruction for details.

If you receive an invitation letter from us, please consider participating in this important study. With your participation, we hope to make this study one of the largest research efforts on Parkinson’s disease. Your participation is crucial for its success, which may lead to better ways to prevent and treat Parkinson’s disease.

If you have any questions, please contact the Principal Investigator, Dr. Honglei Chen or the study manager, Heidi Staub at 1-800-948-7552 Ext 355.

Sincerely,