A potential new treatment for hallucinations
3 out of 4 people with Parkinson’s will experience hallucinations at some point. But Professor Suzanne Reeves is investigating a drug, ondansetron, that may have the potential to reduce hallucinations.
Why is treating hallucinations important?
Hallucinations can be extremely unsettling but currently there’s no treatment approved in the UK.
If successful, the trial could see this drug, which is already used in the NHS to help reduce nausea in cancer patients, quickly repurposed to become an available treatment in Parkinson’s.
And not only that, Professor Reeves believes ondansetron has the potential to treat other Parkinson’s symptoms such as tremors, anxiety, delusions, sleep and memory problems
Watch the video to find out more.
What is happening in the clinical trial?
The Trial of Ondansetron as a Parkinson’s Hallucination Treatment (TOP HAT) is comparing the effects of taking ondansetron with the effects of taking a placebo.
Participants will take either ondansetron or the placebo for 12 weeks. They will be assessed before, during and after the 12-week treatment.
A focus group of people with Parkinson’s helped Professor Suzanne Reeves design this phase 2 trial and hospitals across the UK are taking part.
The first 100 participants had taken part in the study in 2023, with half receiving ondansetron and half receiving a placebo. At this point, a preliminary analysis was carried out on the initial results. It was recommended the trial paused as it looked like there were more safety issues in participants who received the drug than the placebo.
Painstaking analysis has since identified that the safety concerns were actually due to data recording errors and recruitment for the next phase is underway.
What's promising about this trial?
We already know ondansetron is safe for people to take. By testing the drug in people with Parkinson’s who experience hallucinations, we can discover if it's safe and effective as a treatment.
Will you donate today to help fund this groundbreaking trial?
Together, we can take steps towards a new treatment
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What’s next?
If the phase 2 trial proves ondansetron is effective, the next step will be to partner with a pharmaceutical company for larger-scale clinical trials.
With your help, within a few years, we could see clinicians repurposing ondansetron to treat people with Parkinson’s hallucinations throughout the UK.
Together, we can deliver a treatment that could make life better for thousands of people with Parkinson’s.