Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
26%
5 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
A new pill for Parkinson’s disease is raising hopes of a breakthrough in treatment after a trial suggested it reduced the symptoms that hit sufferers’ quality of life.
uncertain
that → raise → life
The drug, called solengepras, cut the time when patients had “off” periods, when they felt unwell or stiff, slow or shaky.
asserted
they → call → periods
Patients also felt less sleepy and functioned better, the scientists said.
asserted
scientists → feel → ?
Existing treatments for Parkinson’s work by increasing dopamine, which is reduced in the brains of sufferers, but those drugs may cause nausea, hallucinations and involuntary movements, usually of the limbs.
uncertain
drugs → exist → limbs
Solengepras works differently, blocking a receptor called GPR6 that slows down movement.
asserted
that → work → movement
It was developed to reduce the risk of such side-effects.
asserted
It → develop → effects
Cerevance, the US clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that developed the new drug, said it offered great hope for future treatments.
asserted
it → develop → treatments
Parkinson's is the world’s fastest growing neurological condition.
asserted
Parkinson → grow → ?
Around 166,000 people in the UK have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, according to Parkinson's UK and 21,000 more have it without a formal diagnosis.
uncertain
21,000 → diagnose → diagnosis
More than 10 million people worldwide live with the disease.
asserted
people → live → disease
The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involved 341 people with Parkinson’s across the US, Europe, UK and Australia.
asserted
trial → control → US
They were randomly assigned to receive either 75mg or 150mg of solengepras or a placebo, once a day for 12 weeks.
asserted
They → assign → weeks
They continued to take their dopamine-based drugs.
asserted
They → continue → drugs
Both the patients taking solengepras and those taking the placebo improved over the trial, but the higher-dose solengepras group reported having nearly 37 minutes less “off” time each day, when their dopamine drugs were not working properly, than those on the placebo, and about an hour-and-a-half less “off” time than before the trial.
asserted
drugs → take → trial
They also had about 36 extra minutes a day of “on” time without dyskinesia – movement problems – compared with the placebo group.
asserted
They → have → group
Activities such as dressing, eating and getting around were easier, as well.
asserted
Activities → dress → dressing
The drug appeared well tolerated, with no serious side effects, the researchers said, although some people reported headaches and urinary tract infections.
asserted
people → appear → headaches
Ceverance says it will discuss the results with the US Food and Drug Administration to determine the next steps, and the pill could potentially be prescribed to patients within three years.
Doctors say motor – or movement - fluctuations are one of the hardest side-effects to control in Parkinson’s patients, but solengepras offers hope of doing so.
Loss of smell, constipation and involuntary movements during sleep may all be early signs of the disease.
Craig Thompson, chief executive of Cerevance, said the trial showed a consistent pattern of benefit across “off” time, “on” time, daily motor function, daytime alertness and quality of life.
uncertain
trial → say → life
“As a potential first-in-class, non-dopaminergic therapy, solengepras gives us the opportunity to evaluate what a new mechanism may offer people with Parkinson’s.”
uncertain
mechanism → give → Parkinson
The Aporia
