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Introduction: Living with young onset Parkinson's disease (YOPD) not only affects the persons with YOPD, but also their families. Although caregiver burden has been researched in Parkinson's disease in general, little is known about the specific impact of having an (ex-)partner with YOPD. This exploratory study aimed to explore the impact of having an (ex-)partner with YOPD on daily life. Materials and methods: We used a qualitative approach including semi-structured interviews with 16 (ex-)partners of people with YOPD. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data. Results: Qualitative analysis revealed nine themes to describe the impact of having an (ex-)partner with YOPD: (1) Psychosocial impact, (2) Impact on taking care of children, (3) Impact on working life, (4) Impact on intimacy and (sexual) relationships, (5) Impact on daily life, (6) Acceptance and other coping strategies, (7) Thoughts about the future, (8) Autonomy and (9) Caregiver support. Discussion: This study provides important findings that will inform future interventions that aim to reduce or even prevent caregiver burden, as well as to inform healthcare professionals to recognize the needs of caregivers of people with YOPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The large variety in symptoms and treatment effects across different persons with Parkinson's disease (PD) warrants a personalized approach, ensuring that the best decision is made for each individual. We aimed to further clarify this process of personalized decision-making, from the perspective of medical professionals. Methods: We audio-taped 52 consultations with PD patients and their neurologist or PD nurse-specialist, in 6 outpatient clinics. We focused coding of the transcripts on which decisions were made and on if and how decisions were personalized. We subsequently interviewed professionals to elaborate on how and why decisions were personalized, and which decisions would benefit most from a more personalized approach. Results: Most decisions were related to medication, referral or lifestyle. Professionals balanced clinical factors, including individual (disease-) characteristics, and non-clinical factors, including patients' preference, for each type of decision. These factors were often not explicitly discussed with the patient. Professionals experienced difficulties in personalizing decisions, mostly because evidence on the impact of characteristics of an individual patient on the outcome of the decision is unavailable. Categories of decisions for which professionals emphasized the importance of a more personalized perspective include choices not only for medication and advanced treatments, but also for referrals, lifestyle and diagnosis. Conclusions: Clinical decision-making is a complex process, influenced by many different factors that differ for each decision and for each individual. In daily practice, it proves difficult to tailor decisions to individual (disease-) characteristics, probably because sufficient evidence on the impact of these individual characteristics on outcomes is lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an investigation comprising different morphometric and numerical data with regard to the nucleoli in smears of isolated parenchymal nuclei of rat liver cells, the following facts were established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]