PARKINSON'S DISEASE NEWS

9th July 2009 - News reports

INTERFERING WITH GLUTAMATE TO PREVENT PARKINSON'S DISEASE

It has been widely reported that researchers are aiming to interfere with the formation of Glutamate in order to prevent Parkinson's Disease. For the news reports go to Medical News Today and Science Daily. The research was recently presented at a conference. Glutamate is able to form GABA in the brain. GABA is a chemical produced naturally by the brain, that affects muscular function. An excess of GABA could provoke symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.  The researchers aim to stimulate "trigger points" in order to prevent the release of glutamate. By targeting specific receptors they hope that side-effects will be minimised as fewer targets elsewhere in the brain will be stimulated.

They claim that glutamate causes cell death in Parkinson's Disease. However, glutamate formation is a healthy function, and has never been shown, in normal quantities, to cause cell death in people with Parkinson's Disease. The fundamental weakness in their theory is that glutamate has never been responsible for causing Parkinson's Disease when dopamine formation is sufficient either.  The primary biochemical fault in Parkinson's Disease has been proven to be the insufficient formation of dopamine rather than an excess of glutamate. Yet the approach used by the researchers could not, even in theory increase dopamine formation. For more current news go to Parkinson's Disease News.

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Parkinson's Disease News details all significant new research, news reports, new books, and new resources concerning Parkinson's Disease and those medical disorders that often coincide with Parkinson's Disease. It is compiled from an analysis of  all newly published research, news reports, new clinical trials, all newly published books, and new web sites. A summary and analysis of the new research are provided,  as well as links to the complete abstracts and news reports.