Cancer anti-sickness drug offers hope for hallucinations in Parkinson’s

A world-first double-blind clinical trial led by UCL researchers will investigate if a powerful drug used to treat nausea in chemotherapy patients could alleviate hallucinations in people with Parkinson's. Parkinson's UK is partnering with UCL and investing £1 million in a pioneering phase II clinical trial to explore if the drug ondansetron is safe and effective against hallucinations. There are currently 145,000 people living with Parkinson's in the UK and 75% of them will experience visual hallucinations at some point. The trial comes at a crucial time as a survey carried out by the charity found that one in 10 people with Parkinson's reported an increase in hallucinations during lockdown, which led to an increase in calls to their helpline. Lead Researcher Professor Suzanne Reeves (UCL Psychiatry) said: "Visual hallucinations pose a particular challenge in Parkinson's as the very treatments for motor symptoms in Parkinson's can also trigger and worsen this distressing symptom. Finding treatments for hallucinations that are both effective and safe is an area of great unmet need. "Ondansetron influences visual processing in the brain and its potential for treating visual hallucinations in Parkinson's was first identified in small studies in the early 1990s.