Marisa O’Connor, 65, joined the trial after being diagnosed with iRBD in late 2017. She said: “I had started sort of talking in my sleep. My husband and I just thought it was quite funny.
“Then he had a knee operation, and one night when he was asleep, I kicked him in the knee that had been operated on, so it suddenly went from funny to being quite serious.”
Marisa’s symptoms include leg movements such as running on the spot and shouting out during vivid dreams, which she does not always remember.
She added: “It can be quite rude. I can tell people in my dream to ‘F*** off’, which isn’t something I would do normally! I’ve heard that’s actually quite common for RBD.”
After her diagnosis, Marisa joined a Parkinson’s research group for patients. The mum-of-two, of Coventry, was invited to join the trial of SNT-4728 and took her first dose in January.
She took one tablet every morning for three months. She kept a diary of her symptoms, as well as attending brain scans, a lumbar puncture and other tests over six months.
Marisa does not know if she was taking the drug or placebo but hopes to find out in the future. She noticed a small improvement in her balance, which has got worse again since she stopped taking the doses. Her scores in visual and memory tests also improved.
Taking part in this type of research is a “win-win”, Marisa added. She said: “I think it’s a great way to kind of help the whole community develop their knowledge about the disease and what to do about it.
“It’s a bit of a win-win situation. You’re helping the RBD and the Parkinson’s community, but at the same time they’re keeping an eye on you, so if they spot something early on, then you can be referred to your GP.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
