PARKINSON'S DISEASE NEWS

25th March 2011 - New research

CHEMOKINES IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Neuroimmunomodulation [2011] 18 (4) :  240-244 (Scalzo P, de Miranda AS, Guerra Amaral DC, de Carvalho Vilela M, Cardoso F, Teixeira AL.) Complete abstract

Neuro-inflammation is often claimed to be a cause or contributor to the cause of Parkinson's Disease by damaging or interfering with the dopaminergic neurons (the cells involved in Parkinson's Disease). Neuro-inflammation is often a response of the Central Nervous System to injury. Chemokines play a role in the effect of inflammatory diseases. For more information go to Chemokines. So the levels of chemokines were compared in people with and without Parkinson's Disease. The levels of the Chemokines  CCL3, CCL11, CCL24, CXCL8 and CXCL10 were assessed. The levels of the chemokines were then related to the severity of Parkinson's Disease. Each person with Parkinson's Disease was assessed using three different measures of Parkinson's Disease. However, the researchers found no difference in the levels of chemokines between people with and without Parkinson's Disease. So chemokines are not indicators of Parkinson's Disease. Also, the idea that Parkinson's Disease is due to inflammation of the Central Nervous System was largely nullified. In order to refer to this article on its own click here.

20th March 2011 - New book

CELL TRANSPLANTATION FOR NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS

Thomas B. Freeman (Editor), Hakan Widner (Editor)

Publisher's description : Distinguished medical researchers from around the world review novel neural reconstructive techniques. The contributors focus on those diseases for which clinical trials are either ongoing or likely to occur in the near future. Among the topics reviewed are results and rationale for some of the leading transplant programs for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, the use of PET scanning for patient evaluation, autopsy studies of transplant recipients, transplant immunology, cellular transplantation for the treatment of pain and stroke, and transplantation of myelinating cells. A full discussion of the important ethical issues surrounding the use of fetal tissue for transplantation purposes is also included. Click here for more details. For more books concerning Parkinson's Disease go to Parkinson's Disease Books.

18th March 2011 - New research

CLINICAL TRIAL RESULTS OF GENE THERAPY FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE

The Lancet Neurology, Early Online Publication, 17 March 2011 (P.A.LeWitt, A.R.Rezai, M.A.Leehey, S.G. Ojemann, A.W.Flaherty, E.N.Eskandar, S.K.Kostyk, K.Thomas, A.Sarkar, M.S.Siddiqui, S.B.Tatter, J.M.Schwalb, K.L.Poston, J.M.Henderson, R.M.Kurlan, I. H.Richard, L.Van Meter, C.V.Sapan, M.J.During, M.G.Kaplitt, A. Feigin) Complete abstract

A surgical method of increasing the levels of GABA, which is a substance involved in muscular movement, has resulted in claims of the method being beneficial for Parkinson's Disease. AAV2-GAD, which is called NLX-P101, was delivered in to the subthalamic nucleus of the brains of people with Parkinson's Disease. GAD is the enzyme (a chemical substance) that makes GABA naturally in the brain. Only a third of the elligible patients were given the treatment. A third of those elligible had to be excluded because of technical problems. The other third of those elligible only received sham surgery (no treatment at all).

There was a 23% reduction in symptoms in the third of patients that were treated. However, even those that were not treated at all reduced their symptoms by nearly 13%. So the actual benefit of the surgical method used was only a 10% reduction in symptoms in those that were treated. Of the adverse events experienced, the most common were headache and nausea. The study was carried out for only six months. It is normal for any artificial stimulation of a biochemical function, as occurred in this study, to eventually start reversing due to a process called feedback inhibition. In order to refer to this article on its own click here.

16th March 2011 - New research

HIGH PREVALENCE OF VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Archives of Neurology [2011] 68 (3) : 314-319 (Evatt ML, Delong MR, Kumari M, Auinger P, McDermott MP, Tangpricha V) Complete abstract

Vitamin D insufficiency has been reported to be far more common in people with Parkinson's Disease, but it is not clear whether having a chronic disease causing reduced mobility contributes to this relatively high prevalence. Nearly 70% of people with early Parkinson's Disease have an insufficiency of vitamin D. The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in people with early Parkinson's Disease was similar to or higher than those reported in previous studies. Vitamin D concentrations did not decline with the worsening of Parkinson's Disease. People with Parkinson's Disease were also previously found to be prone to Osteoporosis, which is a bone disorder related to vitamin D deficiency. For more information go to The high prevalence of Osteoporosis in Parkinson's Disease.

The researchers offer no explanation as to why vitamin D deficiency is so high in early Parkinson's Disease. Vitamin D is not essential for  the formation of dopamine, the substance whose deficiency causes Parkinson's Disease. Vitamin D is obtained from sunshine, but can be more readily obtained in vitamin and mineral supplements, many of which include sufficient vitamin D to prevent a deficiency of vitamin D from occurring. In order to refer to this article on its own click here.

                                                                                                                                                                                12th March 2011 - New book

IT COULD HAPPEN...A BASEBALL FANTASY

Lou Nagy

Publisher's description : Baseball fiction and fantasy at it's most unusual. Imagine finding out that you have an incurable disease. Then imagine that the medicine you are given takes you way beyond "normal." You become better at things requiring hand-eye coordination than anyone has ever been ! What would you do upon discovering this incredible ability ? Cole Anderson decides to try out for Major League Baseball. The author Lou Nagy has had Parkinson's since 1984. At that time he was only 31. Since then his life and thoughts have been consumed by this disease. It is relentless and doesn't give any breaks. He must take 20 or more well timed pills each day just to walk, talk and live any sort of life at all. Yet he still dreams like all of us do. Click here for more details. For more books concerning Parkinson's Disease go to Parkinson's Disease Books.

9th March 2011 - New research

DIABETICS INCREASED RISK OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Diabetes Care [2011] Mar 4 [Epub ahead of print] (Xu Q, Park Y, Huang X, Hollenbeck A, Blair A, Schatzkin A, Chen H.) Complete abstract

Researcher's have found that there is an increased risk of Parkinson's Disease amongst diabetics. In a study involving over a quarter of a million people the risk of Parkinson's Disease amongst diabetics was increased by 40%. Further analysis showed that the increased risk was largely limited to people who had diabetes for more than 10 years at the time of the survey. In those people the risk of developing Parkinson's Disease was increased even more, by 75%. What the researchers have not explained is why this likelihood occurs. The biochemistry of diabetes and Parkinson's Disease are distinct. However, both diabetes and Parkinson's Disease increase in prevalence with age. In order to refer to this article on its own click here.

8th March 2011 - New research

JAPANESE SAKE TRIPLES THE RISK OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE

BMC Neurology [2010] 10 : 111 (Fukushima W, Miyake Y, Tanaka K, Sasaki S, Kiyohara C, Tsuboi Y, Yamada T, Oeda T, Miki T, Kawamura N, Sakae N, Fukuyama H, Hirota Y, Nagai M) Complete abstract

Drinking the Japanese rice wine Sake has been found to triple the likelihood of developing Parkinson's Disease. Sake has been drunk in Japan for over a thousand years, and is often used in ceremonies in Japan. It is now drunk all over the world. For more information go to Sake. Some studies have previously found that alcohol lessens the likelihood of Parkinson's Disease. However, the majority of studies did not find any significant association. This study also found no association between drinking alcohol consumption and Parkinson's Disease, apart from the considerable effect of Sake. In order to refer to this article on its own click here.
 

                                                                                                                                                      5th March 2011 - New research

USE OF IBUPROFEN AND THE RISK OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Neurology [2011] Mar 2 [Epub ahead of print] (Gao X, Chen H, Schwarzschild MA, Ascherio A.) Complete abstract

Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) in general, and possibly Ibuprofen in particular, has been claimed to be related to a lower risk of Parkinson's Disease. It has consequently been claimed that neuro-inflammation may contribute to the cause of Parkinson Disease. The risk of Parkinson's Disease in those people taking Ibuprofen was reduced to 62%. There was also a relationship between Parkinson's Disease and the dosage taken per week. However, other drugs of the same type, including aspirin and other NSAIDS, did not lessen the risk of Parkinson's Disease. Other NSAIDS actually increased the risk of Parkinson's Disease. The authors suggest that Ibuprofen should be further investigated for its potential use in Parkinson's Disease.

However, Ibuprofen has never been shown to reduce Parkinson's Disease. Also, it has also not been proven that the claimed relationship between Ibuprofen and Parkinson's Disease is directly due to Ibuprofen.  Long term use of Ibuprofen is also known to be able to cause serious side effects. For more information go to Ibuprofen. In previous studies, the risk of Parkinson's Disease in people taking Ibuprofen was found to be greater than in the present study at 76% complete abstract, and 85% complete abstract.  In order to refer to this article on its own click here.

2nd March 2011 - New resource

NEW RESOURCE FOR RECORDING PARKINSON'S DISEASE DRUGS AND SYMPTOMS

DataDriven Health Care Solutions have introduced an Internet resource MyPDLog for recording the names, times, and dosages of Parkinson's Disease medications that are taken, as well as mood and symptoms. Patients log into their account, and enter their medications, dosage times, dyskinesias, ON/OFF times, moods, and journals. Everything is automated. This means no more missed entries, inaccurate times, or bad data. It is a reliable way of collecting critical information that can be used by patients themselves, or by doctors in order to record the data of their patients. For their web site go to DataDriven Health Care Solutions. In order to refer to this article on its own click here.