Beyond Symptoms: The Biologisation of Parkinson’s Disease and Its New Ethical and Phenomenological Challenges for (Potential) Patients
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2025-06-30
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en
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This article critically engages with the emerging trend toward the biologisation and ever-earlier diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD), as advanced by recent proposals such as the NSD ISS and SynNeurGe groups (2024) and the introduction of a tRF-based blood test for pre-symptomatic detection (2025). These developments propose a redefinition of PD based solely on biological markers, independent of clinical symptoms. Drawing on phenomenological literature and twelve semi-structured interviews I conducted with PD and early-stage PD patients, the article explores the ethical and existential implications of this shift. It examines how biologisation risks marginalising patients’ lived experience, resulting in testimonial injustice, while PD biomarker-based preclinical diagnosis introduces a condition of epistemic and existential uncertainty for those labelled as potential patients. In such cases, the lack of conceptual and clinical frameworks may lead to hermeneutical injustice. This work represents a first step in addressing these emerging developments not only from a biomedical but also from an ethical and phenomenological perspective, highlighting the urgent need for further research before their clinical implementation.
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Faculteit der Filosofie, Theologie en Religiewetenschappen