NOVEMBER 2007

                                                back to PARKINSON'S DISEASE home page  

Neuroepidemiology [2007] 29 (3-4) : 163-169 [Epub ahead of print] (Woitalla D, Mueller T, Russ H, Hock K, Haeger DA.) Complete abstract

Dyskinesia, often occurring as jerky movements of the arms or head, can occur in Parkinson's disease after several years of dopaminergic treaments. Many Parkinson's disease patients treated with dopaminergic drugs develop motor fluctuations and/or dyskinesia.

This large, retrospective study was conducted to compare the prevalence and treatment of dyskinesia in seven countries. A third of people with Parkinson's Disease were found to have dyskinesia, making it more common than was previously assumed. The overall prevalence was 34%. However, the rate varied according to geographical location from 24% to 51%. Regardless of geographical location, physicians were dissatisfied with the current treatment strategies for dyskinesia.

28th November 2007 : News report

claimed breakthrough using gene therapy

The world's first gene therapy for a brain disease brought about significant improvements in the mobility of Parkinson's sufferers. American doctors claimed it could also herald a landmark in the treatment of other neurological disorders. However, there was a lingering doubt that the reports by a dozen patients of improvements of up to 65% in mobility could be anecdotal or due to the placebo effect. The average effect was only a 30% improvement.

Copies of the human gene used in the therapy were grown in bacteria from DNA isolated from a human sample and the gene multiplied with the bacteria for the treatment. The gene was packaged in a virus and patients were given injections of billions of copies of the genetically altered viruses into the brain. The genes are for an enzyme called glutamic acid decarboxylase, whose sole function is the formation of GABA. GABA is a substance in the brain involved in the control of muscular movement. For more information go to the Complete article.

27th November 2007 : New research

The problem with his claims is that in China, Americans and Europeans have already had stem cell implants, yet they all still have Parkinson's Disease. During the contentious debates over the use of stem cells in Parkinson's Disease there was such a preoccupation with the ethical issues that the issue of whether it was actually scientifically sound were largely overlooked. The use of stem cells in Parkinson's Disease is based on the assumption that there is massive cell loss in Parkinson's Disease, and that the cells therefore need replacing. However, not a single study has ever shown that there is massive cell loss in Parkinson's Disease. Given that the theoretical basis of stem cell use is based on a fallacy, it is not surprising that the use of stem cells has already been shown in practice not to rid Parkinson's Disease.
 

                                                                                                                                                                                  14th November 2007 : New research

6th November 2007 : New book

5th November 2007 : New research

high Prevalence of speech difficulties in Parkinson's disease

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry [2007] 78 (11) : 1188-1190 (Miller N, Allcock L, Jones D, Noble E, Hildreth AJ, Burn DJ.) Complete abstract

Speech difficulties, such as unclear or slurred speech (dysarthria), become inevitable in Parkinson's disease due to the effect of Parkinson's Disease on the muscles involved in speech. Researchers aimed to establish the prevalence of impaired speech intelligibility in people with Parkinson's Disease and the relationship of the decline to indicators of Parkinson's Disease progression. Nearly 40% of patients placed speech changes among their top four concerns regarding Parkinson's Disease.

The speech of around 70% of people with Parkinson's Disease was found to be affected, making it one of the most common problems. The intelligibility of speech in people with Parkinson's Disease was not related to age or disease duration. It was only weakly related to the stage and the severity of Parkinson's Disease. There were no significant differences between those that were tremor dominant and those with postural and walking problems.

4th November 2007 : New research

Cognitive decline followS deep brain stimulation (DBS)

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry [2007] Oct 26; [Epub ahead of print] (York MK, Dulay M, Macias A, Levin H, Grossman R, Simpson R, Jankovic J.) Complete abstract

Researchers investigated the cognitive and psychiatric outcome six months after Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. DBS is a method of reducing symptoms that uses electrodes implanted into the brain. For more information go to Deep Brain Stimulation. DBS patients were compared to medically-treated Parkinson's Disease patients. The DBS patients demonstrated a significant decline in verbal memory, oral information processing, including verbal fluency, and word naming.

DBS patients also demonstrated a decline in attention, but this was no different from those that had not had DBS.  DBS patients did not demonstrate significant changes in depression, anxiety, or psychological distress scores.

3rd November 2007 : New research

serious decline in driving ability in Parkinson's Disease

Brain [2007] 130 (Pt 9) : 2433-2440 (Uc EY, Rizzo M, Anderson SW, Sparks JD, Rodnitzky RL, Dawson JD.) Complete abstract

Navigating a new route whilst driving uses the driver's cognitive resources and has the potential to impair driving ability in people with Parkinson's disease. The aim of this study was to assess navigation and safety errors during a route following task in drivers with Parkinson's Disease. Drivers with Parkinson's Disease performed significantly worse on cognitive, visual and motor tests compared to controls, and took longer to finish the task. People with Parkinson's Disease were more than twice as likely to make incorrect turns, and were nearly twice as likely to commit safety errors. Those most affected were not those with the worst physical movement and physical difficulties, but were those with the worst cognitive function.  

2nd November 2007 : History

Seventeenth century treatment of parkinson's disease

Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654) was an English botanist, herbalist, physician and astrologer. He published books : The English Physitian (1652) and the Complete Herbal (1653).  For more information go to Nicholas Culpepper. The Complete Herbal contains both pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge. During the seventeenth century, symptoms of Parkinson's Disease were known as palsy and tremblings. Among the recommendations in his Complete Herbal, he suggests sage for "sinews, troubled with palsy and cramp". For centuries prior to this, Sage had also been recommended for tremor in the hands. Amongst other plant remedies he suggested for palsy and trembling were bilberries, briony ("English mandrake"), and mistletoe. In the 1696 edition of his Pharmacopoeia Londinensis, a very odd variety of substances were claimed to be useful in the treatment of "palsies", the "dead palsy", and "tremblings". These included the "oil of winged ants", and preparations including earthworms !

Chemical That Triggers Parkinson's Disease "Discovered"

Acta neuropathologica [2007] Oct 27; [Epub ahead of print] (Burke WJ, Kumar VB, Pandey N, Panneton WM, Gan Q, Franko MW, O'Dell M, Li SW, Pan Y, Chung HD, Galvin JE.) Complete abstract

Researchers have claimed they have discovered that dopamine itself actually plays a role in destroying the cells that produce it. Dopamine can break down into a highly toxic chemical known as DOPAL (3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde). Using test-tube, cell-culture and animal models, researchers claimed that it is DOPAL that causes alpha-synuclein protein in the brain to clump together, which in turn triggers damage of dopamine-producing cells and leads to Parkinson's Disease. "It's actually DOPAL that kicks this whole process off and results in Parkinson's disease" they claim. For more information go to the Complete article.

The weakness in these claims is that they make the false assumption, as many do, that Parkinson's Disease is due entirely to cell damage. The primary fault in Parkinson's Disease has long been shown to be the insufficient formation of dopamine. That is why dopaminergic drugs so readily rid its symptoms. Insufficient formation of dopamine will also lead to cell damage. It is Parkinson's Disease that causes cell damage - not cell damage that causes Parkinson's Disease. For more information go to Biochemistry of Parkinson's Disease.

They did not demonstrate this effect in people with Parkinson's Disease, or even in humans, but instead in rats that did not have Parkinson's Disease. They also used dosages of DOPAL so high that they would not occur in a real life situation in Parkinson's patients. When the subjects, situation and dosages are altered so much from a real life situation, it can not possibly be concluded what occurs in reality.  Dopamine can break down in to DOPAL in the brain, and DOPAL can be damaging. However, when this occurs it was found to result in Autism not Parkinson's Disease. For more information go to DOPAL and autism.