all Parkinson's disease stories

Elevated urate levels may slow progression of Parkinson's disease

404132862 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:22:55 -0400

Naturally elevated levels of the antioxidant urate may slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease in men. Researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) examined data from an earlier study and found that, among recently diagnosed Parkinson’s patients, those with the highest urate levels had a significantly slower rate of disease progression during the two-year study period. The report appears in the online edition of read more

Reprogrammed adult skin cells treat Parkinson's disease in animal model

404132862 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:01:23 -0400

Researchers at the Whitehead Institute and Harvard Stem Cell Institute(HSCI) have reported successfully reducing symptoms in a Parkinson's disease rat model by using dopamine producing neurons derived from reprogrammed adult skin cells(iPS).

The work was reported in a study published in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Human stem cells help monkeys recover from Parkinson's

404132862 — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:47:50 -0400

Monkeys with severe Parkinson's disease have recovered after human stem cells were transplanted into their brains. The successful experiment raises hopes that the treatment might work as well in humans. An injection of neural stem cells in their brains "led to dramatic functional recovery in severely Parkinsonian monkeys," notes Richard Sidman, Bullard Professor of Neuropathology Emeritus at Harvard Medical School (HMS). "They could stand, walk, feed themselves, and live independently."

Fetal-cell transplants reverse Parkinson's in two patients

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:20:49 -0400

The two patients were part of a small exploratory study in Halifax. In the study, the cells were bathed in the trophic factor GDNF before being implanted into the striatum, the target of dopamine-producing cells. One patient also had cells implanted into the substantia nigra, the origin of the dopamine neurons involved in Parkinson's.

The study provides a picture of both the clinical improvements in the patients and the physiological outcomes of the experiment. The two patients both experienced progressive improvement in symptoms over a three- to four-year period after their transplantation. The patients also showed positive PET scans for dopamine activity in the regions where grafts had been placed. In their postmortem analysis, Isacson's team found dopamine-producing neurons along the graft sites, representing about a 10- to 30-percent survival rate in the putamen and slightly lower survival rate in the substantia nigra.

This is the first reported evidence that cells can survive and form connections in the substantia nigra, which Isacson believes may be an important target for future transplant therapies. The postmortem findings also closely correlate to clinical improvements.

Isacson's team believes it can continue to improve cell-based therapies for Parkinson's disease by better characterizing and controlling specific populations of cells.

Anti-inflammatory drugs may reduce Parkinson's disease risk

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:31:26 -0400

In the first study to investigate the potential benefit in humans of the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in reducing the risk of Parkinson's disease, Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that regular users of these drugs had a lower risk for Parkinson's disease than non-users. More than 44,000 men and nearly 99,000 women were followed for 14 years and 18 years, respectively. Use of aspirin and non-aspirin NSAIDs (such as Motrin, Advil, ibuprofen, Indocin, Naprosyn) was assessed via biennial questionnaires. A total of 236 men and 179 women developed Parkinson's disease during the course of the study. The risk of developing Parkinson's disease was 45 percent lower among men and women who regularly used non-aspirin NSAIDs than among non-users. Regular use of non-aspirin NSAIDs was reported by 6.1 percent of the men at the beginning of the study and 3.7 percent of the women. The findings appeared in the August 2003 issue of The Archives of Neurology.

Enzyme linked to pathology of Parkinson's disease appears two-faced

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:28:12 -0400

A finding by Harvard Medical School researchers adds a new wrinkle to the story of Parkinson's disease and insight into how failure to dispose of proteins can wreak havoc on a cell. Much research has focused on how the aggregated proteins found in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's are produced, overproduced, folded, and eventually clumped together. But a defect in protein degradation could also lead to a pathogenic traffic jam in the cell. "The idea is that the concentration of these proteins needs to be kept below some threshold in order to avoid aggregation," said Peter Lansbury, Harvard Medical School associate professor of neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. The findings by Lansbury's research team were published in the Oct. 18, 2002 issue of the journal Cell.

Dopamine may play dual role in Parkinson's disease

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:17:50 -0400

According to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, "Parkinson's disease (PD) is a disorder of the central nervous system that affects between one and one-and-a-half million Americans. Because it is not contagious and does not have to be reported by physicians, the incidence of the disease is often underestimated. PD may appear at any age, but it is uncommon in people younger than 30, and the risk of developing it increases with age. It occurs in all parts of the world, and men are affected slightly more often than women." Researchers at Harvard Medical School have been trying to understand the underlying causes of Parkinson's disease, which is characterized by a lack of the chemical messenger dopamine in the brain.

Caffeine linked to protection from Parkinson's disease

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:11:36 -0400

Parkinson's disease is a progressive nervous disease occurring generally after age 50. It destroys brain cells that produce dopamine and is characterized by muscular tremor, slowing of movement, weakness and facial paralysis. Men who drank four to five cups per day of caffeinated coffee cut the risk of developing Parkinson's disease nearly in half compared to men in a recent study who consumed little or no caffeine daily. Women who consumed between one and three cups of caffeinated coffee per day also cut their risk nearly in half of developing Parkinson's disease when compared to women who drank less than a cup of coffee per day, but this apparent benefit was lost at higher levels of intake. Further research with women is required. The results were announced by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health.