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Santhera and Ipsen Enter into Licensing Agreement for Fipamezole for the Treatment of Dyskinesia in
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) and Ipsen (Paris:IPN) (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY) today announced a license agreement for the development and commercialization of fipamezole (antagonist of the adrenergic alpha-2 receptor) for territories outside of North America and Japan. This first-in-class compound is currently under investigation for the treatment of levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's Disease. Initiation of a first Phase III study by Biovail is scheduled for 2011. Today's agreement stipulates a data sharing, under which Ipsen has the right to use these data for its own purposes.  Klaus Schollmeier, Chief Executive Officer of Santhera, said: "We are pleased to be partnering with Ipsen to advance the potential of fipamezole as a possible first treatment for Dyskinesia in Parkinson's Disease. Dyskinesia is a condition that is functionally disabling to patients and limits effective treatment of the underlying Parkinson's Disease. Ipsen complements perfectly our North American partnership with Biovail. Today's agreement is another strong endorsement for fipamezole and proves that our out-licensing strategy for this innovative drug candidate is working well for the benefit of all parties." Stephane Thiroloix, Ipsen's Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development said: "L-dopa induced dyskinesia is a serious unmet medical need, and we look forward to providing patients with a positive transformation in the management of their condition. This agreement with Santhera will further enrich Ipsen's pipeline with a new promising first-in-class compound thus complementing our fast-growing neurology franchise, in clear medical and operational synergy with our existing portfolio. We have been impressed with the scientific and development capabilities of both Santhera and Biovail. Ipsen will benefit from the Biovail development and collaborate fully to achieve regulatory filings excluding North America planned for 2015." About the agreement Under the agreement, Ipsen acquires the rights to fipamezole outside the United States, Canada and Japan for an upfront payment of EUR 13 million and additional payments contingent to future development, regulatory and sales milestones of up to EUR 128 million. In addition, Santhera is entitled to royalty payments on Ipsen's future net sales. In a similar transaction in August 2009, Santhera granted Biovail (Canada's largest specialty pharmaceutical company) the development and commercial rights to fipamezole in the United States and Canada. The first Phase III study is scheduled for 2011 in the treatment of levodopa induced dyskinesia. Santhera has the right to use and sublicense data generated by Biovail for development and commercialization purposes outside of the United States and Canada. Today's agreement stipulates that Ipsen has acquired the right to use these data for its own development and commercialization purposes outside the United States, Canada and Japan, whereas the Japanese rights for fipamezole remain with Santhera. About Fipamezole Fipamezole is an antagonist of the adrenergic alpha-2 receptor with a novel mode of action in the treatment of dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease. The rationale behind the development is to increase noradrenergic release in certain areas of the brain resulting in the rebalance of the distorted brain network and potentially alleviating symptoms of advanced Parkinson's disease such as dyskinesia, motor fluctuations and other disturbing symptoms without exacerbating the underlying Parkinsonian features of the disease. Encouraging phase 2b data exist in support of this rationale. Loss of motor control and dyskinesia is feature of the majority of Parkinson patients after 5 years of levodopa therapy, and remains a clear unmet medical need. About Ipsen Ipsen is a global biopharmaceutical group, with sales exceeding 1 billion euros in 2009. The Group has total worldwide staff of more than 4,400 employees, of which nearly 900 contribute to the discovery and development of innovative drugs for patient care. Ipsen's development strategy is based on fast growing specialty care drugs in oncology, endocrinology, neurology and hematology, and on primary care drugs. This strategy is supported by an active policy of partnerships. Ipsen's research & development (R&D) centers and its peptide & protein engineering platform give the Group a strong competitive edge. In 2009, R&D expenditure totaled close to €200 million, representing nearly 20% of Group sales. Ipsen's shares are traded on segment A of Euronext Paris (stock code: IPN, ISIN code: FR0010259150) and eligible to the "Service de Reglement Differe" ("SRD" ). The Group is part of the SBF 120 index. Ipsen has implemented a Sponsored Level I American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program, which trade on the over-the-counter market in the United States under the symbol IPSEY. For more information on Ipsen, visit our website at www.ipsen.com. About Santhera Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceutical products for the treatment of severe neuromuscular diseases, an area of high unmet medical need which includes many orphan indications with no current therapy. Santhera's first product, Catena to treat Friedreich's Ataxia, is marketed in Canada. Following positive clinical results in Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, the drug is prepared for regulatory filings for marketing approval. Catena is also being investigated in a Phase III study in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Commercial rights in Europe for Friedreich's Ataxia and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy are licensed to Takeda Pharmaceutical. Santhera's second compound fipamezole has demonstrated efficacy in reducing levodopa-induced Dyskinesia in Parkinson's Disease. Phase III development and commercialization rights in the United States and Canada are partnered with Biovail, and outside North America and Japan with Ipsen. For further information, please visit the Company's web site atwww.santhera.com. Catena is a trademark of Santhera Pharmaceuticals. Ipsen forward-looking statements The forward-looking statements, objectives and targets contained herein are based on the Group's management strategy, current views and assumptions. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated herein. Moreover, the targets described in this document were prepared without taking into account external growth assumptions and potential future acquisitions, which may alter these parameters. These objectives are based on data and assumptions regarded as reasonable by the Group. These targets depend on conditions or facts likely to happen in the future, and not exclusively on historical data. Notably, future currency fluctuations may negatively impact the profitability of the Group and its ability to reach its objectives. Actual results may depart significantly from these targets given the occurrence of certain risks and uncertainties. The Group does not commit nor gives any guarantee that it will meet the targets mentioned above. Furthermore, the Research and Development process involves several stages each of which involve the substantial risk that the Group may fail to achieve its objectives and be forced to abandon its efforts with regards to a product in which it has invested significant sums. Therefore, the Group cannot be certain that favorable results obtained during pre-clinical trials will be confirmed subsequently during clinical trials, or that the results of clinical trials will be sufficient to demonstrate the safe and effective nature of the product concerned. The Group also depends on third parties to develop and market some of its products which could potentially generate substantial royalties; these partners could behave in such ways which could cause damage to the Group's activities and financial results. The Group expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward looking statements, targets or estimates contained in this press release to reflect any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which any such statements are based, unless so required by applicable law. The Group's business is subject to the risk factors outlined in its registration documents filed with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers. Santhera Disclaimer/Forward-looking statements This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG. This publication may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. LIESTAL, Switzerland & PARIS - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Regulatory News:
Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Successfully Used To Treat Parkinson's In Rodents
Friday, August 20, 2010
Researchers at the Buck Institute for Age Research have successfully used human induced pluripotentstem cells (iPSCs) to treat rodents afflicted with Parkinson's Disease (PD). The research, which validates a scalable protocol that the same group had previously developed, can be used to manufacture the type of neurons needed to treat the disease and paves the way for the use of iPSC's in various biomedical applications. Results of the research, from the laboratory of Buck faculty Xianmin Zeng, Ph.D., are published August 16, 2010 in the on-line edition of the journal Stem Cells.
Human iPSC's are a "hot" topic among scientists focused on regenerative medicine. "These cells are reprogrammed from existing cells and represent a promising unlimited source for generating patient-specific cells for biomedical research and personalized medicine," said Zeng, who is lead author of the study. "Human iPSCs may provide an end-run around immuno-rejection issues surrounding the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to treat disease," said Zeng. "They may also solve bioethical issues surrounding hESCs."
Researchers in the Zeng lab used human iPSCs that were derived from skin and blood cells and coaxed them to become dopamine-producing neurons. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced in the mid-brain which facilitates many critical functions, including motor skills. Patients with PD lack sufficient dopamine; the disease is a progressive, incurable neurodegenerative disorder that affects 1.5 million Americans and results in tremor, slowness of movement and rigidity.
Researchers transplanted the iPSC-derived neurons into rats that had mid-brain injury similar to that found in human PD. The cells became functional and the rats showed improvement in their motor skills. Zeng said this is the first time iPSC-derived cells have been shown to engraft and ameliorate behavioral deficits in animals with PD. Dopamine-producing neurons derived from hESCs have been demonstrated to survive and correct behavioral deficits in PD in the past. "Both our functional studies and genomic analyses suggest that overall iPSCs are largely similar to hESCs," said Zeng.
The research also addresses the current lack of a robust system for the efficient production of functional dopamine-producing neurons from human iPSCs, Zeng said. The protocol used to differentiate the iPSCs was similar to one developed by Zeng and colleagues for hESCs. "Our approach will facilitate the adoption of protocols to good manufacturing practice standards, which is a pre-requisite if we are to move iPSC's into clinical trials in humans," said Zeng.
"The studies are very encouraging for potential cell therapies for Parkinson's disease," said Alan Trounson, Ph.D., the President of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. "The researchers showed they could produce quantities of dopaminergic neurons necessary to improve the behavior of a rodent model of PD. We look forward to further work that could bring closer a new treatment for such a debilitating disease," Trounson said.
Other contributors to the work:
Other Buck Institute researchers involved in the study include Andrzej Swistowski, Jun Peng, Qiuyue Liu, and Mahendra Rao. Prashant Mali and Linzhao Cheng from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD also contributed to the work. The research was supported by grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.
Source:
Kris Rebillot
Buck Institute for Age Research
Scientists working to develop vaccine for Parkinson’s disease
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
by Rob Cahill  TARGETING MOLECULAR MACHINERY OF PARKINSON’S - UTHealth protein chemists Dong Hong, Ph.D., and Chuantao Jiang, M.D., Ph.D., (right) are working to develop a vaccine to treat people with Parkinson’s disease. Nina Brown, 68, and millions of others with a debilitating neurological condition called Parkinson’s disease are counting on researchers for a cure. At The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), protein chemists are working to develop a therapeutic vaccine. Parkinson’s disease is a chronic disorder that worsens over time and can rob people of their ability to perform everyday tasks. Named after the English doctor who described the condition almost 200 years ago, its symptoms often include tremors or shaking, slow movements, stiffness in arms and legs, drooling, slurred speech and unsteadiness. “We’re creating a vaccine to target a protein that accumulates in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease,” said Rowen Chang, Ph.D., who is the professor leading the research project at the UTHealth Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM). “If we can slow the protein buildup, I believe we will also slow the deterioration of nerve cells tied to body movement.” The protein is alpha synuclein. People with Parkinson’s disease may appear to be fixed in their facial expressions, stooped forward in their posture and may even appear to be intoxicated to others because of their postural instability. While there is no cure, the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease can be treated effectively. Parkinson’s disease is the second most common of the progressive neurological diseases, affecting 1 percent of the population over the age of 60. Brown, who was diagnosed in 1985 after experiencing balance problems, used to swat tennis balls and take in traveling productions of Broadway shows. “I went from being able to walk, to using a cane, to using a walker, to now using a scooter,” said Brown, who lives in Bellaire, Texas, and has been married to Joe Brown for 48 years.  PARKINSON’S DISEASE ADVOCATE - Turning lemons into lemonade, Nina Brown is not letting Parkinson’s disease slow her down. The picture shows Brown and her husband, Joe, when she was able to walk a 5K several years ago. “We estimate that there are about 19,000 people with Parkinson’s disease in the greater Houston area,” said Kathleen Crist, director of social services and program development for the Houston Area Parkinson Society, a nonprofit social service. “For every person with it, there are also family members affected.” Parkinson’s disease has been linked to cell death in the substantia nigra, which is responsible for modulating movement and produces a major brain chemical messenger called dopamine. Dopamine directs the signals that allow people to control their movements. For years, vaccines have been used to protect people from diseases like rubella and measles by stimulating their immune systems. So, why not develop a therapeutic vaccine for Parkinson’s disease? When a person gets vaccinated, he or she is injected with a tiny amount of an agent linked to a disease, said Chang, who is collaborating on the project with UTHealth researcher and assistant professor Chuantao Jiang, M.D., Ph.D. As soon as the immune system recognizes this agent, it begins to produce antibodies to attack it. The agents that trigger this process are called immunogens. Building on pre-clinical vaccine research by others demonstrating that reducing alpha synuclein buildup also reduces nerve damage, Chang and Jiang have developed an approach that they believe will be more effective in reducing alpha synuclein levels and therefore provide a more effective form of Parkinson’s disease therapy. Their work is supported by a grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, founded by Emmy Award-winning actor Michael J. Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991. Chang and Jiang, who work in the UTHealth Center for Protein Chemistry, have developed a vaccine and are in the process of testing its safety and effectiveness in a mouse model that expresses the human alpha synuclein protein. The first part of their study involved a comparison of three different immunogens. “We have found a highly promising immunogen that may prevent the alpha synuclein aggregation,” Jiang said. The next step is gauging the effects of the immunogen in a mouse model. If the immunogen works in mice, clinical trials could be in the offing, Chang said. Other Parkinson’s disease research underway at UTHealth includes a clinical study designed to aid in the early diagnosis of the disease, which scientists believe starts long before the onset of impaired motor skills. Mya Schiess, M.D., professor and Adriana Blood Chair in Neurology at the UTHealth Medical School, and colleagues are trying to build a profile of measures that could be used to predict Parkinson’s disease development. The scientists are searching for biological substances and physiological phenomena (biomarkers) tied to the disease, which could be used in combination with other measures, such as a reduction in the ability to smell, to diagnose the disease. The study includes people with Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder, who are at increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. “I hope a cure for Parkinson’s will be forthcoming in my lifetime,” said Nina Brown, who describes her battle with Parkinson’s disease in a video titled “Hope.” “If not, it is my hope that it will be there for future generations.” Joe Brown added, “The answers won’t come immediately. But when they do, they will change mankind.”
Sleep Disorder May Lead to Parkinson’s Disease in the Long Run
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
According to Bradley Boeve, MD of Mayo Clinic in Rochester REM, sleep behaviour disorder maydevelop the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a neuro-degeneration disease. The symptoms of the disease are visible after many years. The study, based on 27 patients, has shown that after 25 years of its beginning, symptoms like multiple system atrophy and dementia with Lewy bodies are visible in the patients. The journal Neurology has also published that in a few cases this time span even reached to 50 years. On an average, the age of people with sleeping disorder was 49, while they showed the symptoms of neurological disease at the age of 72. A few of these patients had minor cognitive problems, while half of the patients even showed the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. All the studied people had some kind of synucleinopathy. Nearly 89% of all patients were men. These patients had very fast moving dreams, in which it was very apparent that the person was trying to save himself from an enemy or animal. The report from the researchers has included the modern therapies for synucleinopathies, which are based on pharmacologic, cell-based, gene and mechanism. 
MSU Researcher Gets NIH Grant for Parkinson's Disease Work
Saturday, July 24, 2010
ANN ARBOR, MI (MICHIGAN RADIO) - A Michigan State University researcher is working on new treatments for Parkinson's disease.
Dr. John Goudreau says a protein known as "parkin" can save certain neurons in the brain from injury caused by Parkinson's disease.
The associate professor of neurology, pharmacology and toxicology is using a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to explore his theory.
Goudreau uses a boxing analogy.
"So you have a couple of prizefighters," Goudreau says. "One gets hit and goes down to the mat and can't get up. These other cells that seem to be resistant to the disease take the same kind of hit, they go down to the mat, but they can bounce back up again and again. So we wanted to figure out why they were able to do that."
About four million people worldwide have Parkinson's disease. Goudreau says that's expected to increase to more than 8 million by the year 2030.
Parkinson's Disease Patient Tells Personal Story to Benefit PD Research; Donates Book Proceeds to PD
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Elkridge, MD
After undergoing experimental brain surgery, a Maryland Parkinson’s disease patient believed his story would make an interesting and uplifting book for people suffering from the same condition. He just couldn't find a literary agent who agreed with him. Most publishers will only accept requested manuscripts from agents they have done business with in the past. Becoming a author at an established publishing house, he discovered, was like trying to join an exclusive country club by just walking in off the street and asking for an application. Frustrated after years of trying to get an agent to even answer a query letter, Bill Schmalfeldt decided to take matters into his own hands. Reaching into his own pocket, he has self-published his story and is donating 100 percent of the author’s proceeds from the book’s sale to help find a cure for this crippling, degenerative neurological disease. "No Doorway Wide Enough" is Schmalfeldt’s personal story about living with a neurological disease that afflicts over a million Americans. 100 percent of the author proceeds will be donated to the National Parkinson Foundation and the Charles DBS Research Fund at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “The title comes from my days as a Navy hospital corpsman at the former U.S. Naval Home in Gulfport, Ms.,” the 55-year old writer said. “I used to wonder why it was that some of the older folks tended to stop and ‘size up’ a doorway before walking through. I did a spot-on impression of this effect for my friends at parties. Got lots of laughs. Now I know the reason for it.” The book began its life as a blog, "My Parkinson's Disease Diary". With his daily entries, Schmalfeldt weaves a fascinating tale that starts with being diagnosed at age 45, why he decided to participate in an experimental clinical trial that involved brain surgery, and his recovery and life afterwards. With a wry and sardonic sense of humor, Schmalfeldt tells of his personal struggle with the disease, pulling no punches over his frustration over the mixed results of his surgery. “It’s the story of my Parkinson’s decade — 2000 to 2010,” Schmalfeldt said. “This book is written not only for the Parkinson’s disease patient,” Schmalfeldt said, “but for anyone who knows, cares for, or loves someone who has this beast of a disease. It's also for the guy or gal who will see the neurologist tomorrow, next week or next year and get the diagnosis. The one thing I want people to take away from this book is that Parkinson’s disease is not a death sentence. It’s a life sentence.” Schmalfeldt said that the book was also meant to highlight the importance of clinical trials in medical research. In 2007, Schmalfeldt volunteered for a clinical trial at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville to test the safety and tolerabilty of deep brain stimulation in early PD. “Clinical trials are vital in the search for new treatments and cures in a variety of diseases,” said Schmalfeldt, who works from home as a writer-editor for the Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.“Without people volunteering to take part in this kind of research, scientists would have a much harder time finding new drugs, treatments and outright cures for the diseases that have plagued mankind throughout the years.” A former news reporter, radio talk show host and one of the original program directors at XM Satellite Radio, Schmalfeldt learned about the clinical trial at Vanderbilt in the course of his duties at NIH. “I write and produce podcasts about the importance of clinical trials,” he said. “What kind of hypocrite would I be if I saw a trial that I was qualified for and didn’t participate?" But it's not all happy talk. His story can not have a happy ending, barring the discovery of a cure. He discusses with brutal frankness his increasing problems with walking, freezing-of-gait, loss of balance, speech difficulties (particularly difficult for the award-winning former broadcaster), and what seems to be the onset of the early stages of Parkinson's disease dementia. He recounts a recent hallucination that helps explain why he gave up driving in May 2000. "Gail and I were leaving the parking lot at the Mall of Columbia," Schmalfeldt said. "I was looking out my widow to the right, and I turned my head back towards the center and saw something that scared the hell out of me. It looked like Gail was just about to run over a small child! Except, of course, for the fact that she wasn’t. What I thought was a kid was actually the little group of charms she has hanging from the rear view mirror. But for a second there, it looked just like a little kid." These "illusions" (as his neurologist calls them) are happening more frequently and, according to Schmalfeldt, motivate him to tell his story now while he can still do so clearly. This is Schmalfeldt’s first try at non-fiction. His previous works, “…by the people…”, “Undercover Trucker: How I Saved America by Truckin’ Towels for the Taliban,” and “Hunky Dunk,” are available at his web site as well as at major online booksellers worldwide. The book is available as a hardcover, a deluxe paperback, a standard paperback, an Amazon "Kindle" book, and in practically every available downloadable eBook format. A native of Clinton, Iowa, Schmalfeldt lives with his wife, Gail, in Elkridge, Md. He continues to blog daily at http://parkinsondiary.com. 
Parkinson's Patients More Likely To Stick With Certain 'Add-On' Drugs
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Of the three main types of oral drugs commonly added to levodopa therapy for patients with advanced Parkinson's disease, one might be the most effective, according to a new review.
People with Parkinson's disease often initially experience tremors, stiffness, slowed movement or difficulty with balance and coordination. These symptoms result from the destruction of brain cells that produce dopamine an important chemical that transmits nerve impulses.
Many people with Parkinson's start treatment by taking levodopa, which the body converts to dopamine. After a time, however, levodopa alone is not always enough.
The three classes of drugs for add-on treatment are dopamine agonists, which stimulate dopamine receptors in the brain, drugs known as COMT inhibitors and MAOB inhibitors, which slow the breakdown of dopamine in the body.
Of these, dopamine agonists might be most effective, according to a new review.
The irony for patients and doctors alike is that while all of the add-on drugs help improve functional motor skills, they simultaneously might increase numerous other side effects such as dyskinesia, dizziness, sleep disturbances, nausea, constipationand even hallucinations.
Although the risk of side effects increased with all three types of add-on drugs, patients were most likely to continue treatment when they were taking dopamine agonists. This class includes medications such as pramipexole (Mirapex), ropinirole (Requip), cabergoline (Dostinex) and bromocriptine (Parlodel).
"There's a tendency to think that stronger drugs give more adverse effects, but we didn't find that with dopamine agonists," says review co-author Carl E. Clarke, M.D., a neurologist at the University of Birmingham in England. "They seem to be as well tolerated as the other classes, so the results are quite positive in terms of using the agonists ahead of the other two."
Parkinson's disease is a chronic, progressive disorder affecting more than 6 million people worldwide, making it the most common degenerative condition of the brain after Alzheimer's disease. Both illnesses are most common in the elderly, so with an aging U.S. population, their prevalence is likely to increase.
"No treatments have been proven to slow progression of the disease," said William J. Weiner, M.D., director of the Maryland Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "Yet with treatment to alleviate motor symptoms, most patients can function extremely well for six to 10 years."
Levodopa typically controls symptoms very well for up to five years, but eventually a patient's symptoms start to reappear each day before the next dose is due or symptoms might reappear and disappear unpredictably. Patients might also develop dyskinesia, which results in uncontrollable jerking and writhing movements.
Doctors can then add another medication to the levodopa therapy.
"The greater efficacy and reduced likelihood of patient withdrawal with dopamine agonist therapy possibly outweighs the disadvantage of increased side effects," concludes the review.
This finding matches Weiner's clinical experience gained from decades of treating people with the disease.
"Most [Parkinson's] patients prefer to have these dyskinesias and other moderate side effects than to have more disabling motor complications like being unable to walk," he says. "Hallucinations may be troublesome and frightening initially, but they are typically benign a patient might think he sees a dog and people can get used to them."
The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates research in all aspects of health care. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing trials on a topic.
This review assessed data from 44 randomized trials involving 8,436 participants. The authors caution, however, that the studies compared each class of drugs against placebo, rather than conducting "head-to-head" comparisons of each class against the others.
This leaves open the possibility that the findings arose not from actual differences in the treatments, but rather from other factors such as differences in the types of people included in the various trials. A large trial featuring direct comparisons of the three drug classes currently is underway in the United Kingdom, Clarke said.
Of the drugs in the COMT inhibitor class, the review suggests that tolcapone (Tasmar) is as effective as the dopamine agonists. However, tolcapone has been linked to a few cases of fatal liver toxicity and can now only be prescribed in the United States with intense monitoring.
"Tolcapone is worth using in patients where [the alternative] is not working well, and we mustn't discount it," Clarke said. "This evidence clearly states that."
The review disclosed that Clarke has received payments for consulting, lectures and travel from Boehringer-Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Lundbeck, Orion, Teva, UCB, and Valeant.
The Cochrane Library contains high quality health care information, including Systematic Reviews from The Cochrane Collaboration. These reviews bring together research on the effects of health care and are considered the gold standard for determining the relative effectiveness of different interventions. The Cochrane Collaboration is an international nonprofit, independent organization that produces and disseminates systematic reviews of health care interventions and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions.
Stowe R, et al. Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of adjuvant treatment to levodopa therapy in Parkinson s disease patients with motor complications (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 7.
Genetics, Insecticides Might Contribute to Parkinson's
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
(Health Day News) -- A combination of genetic mutations and exposure to insecticides may increase a man's risk of Parkinson's disease, new research shows.
The study included 207 Parkinson's disease patients and a control group of 482 healthy people. The French team of researchers analyzed the participants for mutations in a gene called ABCB1 and assessed their lifetime exposure to pesticides.
Overall, mutations in the ABCB1 gene weren't associated with Parkinson's disease risk. However, the researchers found that the association between organo chlorine insecticide exposure and Parkinson's disease was 3.5 times stronger in men with two mutated copies of the ABCB1 gene than among those with no ABCB1 mutations.
"Based on a biological hypothesis, we show that organo chlorine insecticides may interact with ABCB1 in determining the risk of Parkinson's disease,"Fabien Dutheil, of Universite Paris Descartes, Assistance-Publique Hopitaux de Paris, and colleagues concluded. "These findings support the hypothesis of gene x pesticide interactions in Parkinson's disease."
The study is published in the June issue of the Archives of Neurology.
State awards $10 million for stem cell research
Thursday, June 10, 2010
AP State Wire
The state has awarded nearly $10 million in grants to fund stem cell research at Yale and the University of Connecticut.
The grants, which are the fourth round of state stem cell funding, will fund 22 projects that span areas such as the role of stem cells in understanding or treating Huntington's disease, leukemia, Parkinson's disease and osteoarthritis.
The grants come from a $100 million state fund for stem cell research established in 2005 when federal funding for research using human embryonic stem cells was restricted.
Federal policy has since changed, but scientists and policymakers say state funding has helped Connecticut in stem cell research, allowing universities to develop labs and recruit scientists.
Voice Analysis May Allow Early Detection of Parkinson's
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Health Day
A new voice analysis technique can identify changes in speech associated with the early stages of Parkinson's disease, a new study has found.
"This is a noninvasive, reliable and accurate technique that only requires the patient to read out a few simple sentences," Shimon Sapir, of the department of communication sciences and disorders at the University of Haifa in Israel, who developed the new test, said in a university news release.
In many cases,Parkinson's disease is diagnosed based on muscle rigidity, tremors, slow movement and loss of balance. But by the time these symptoms are present, the disease is already well-advanced.
Since the muscles controlling voice and speech are affected in most people with Parkinson's disease, Sapir decided to develop an acoustic analysis method that identified differences between the speech of people with Parkinson's disease and healthy people. The method also tracks voice changes that occur in response to treatment or disease progression.
A series of tests showed that the new acoustic analysis technique is effective. The findings were published in a recent issue of the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research.
"Doctors and scientists agree that early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is important in order to slow down or even prevent the degenerative progress of this disease,"Sapir said. "Today no treatment is available to this effect, but when treatment becomes feasible, early diagnosis is going to be crucial.There are various methods of brain imaging for detecting early signs of Parkinson's disease, but these methods are expensive -- particularly when attempting to screen a large population at risk. Hence the importance of developing techniques for early diagnosis that are valid,reliable, non-invasive, simple, readily available and inexpensive."
But Sapir added that "while our initial results are very encouraging,additional studies must be carried out in order to examine the new method. Also, given that the disease and its progression have different effects on individuals, speech analysis must be incorporated into a battery of tests that examine other signs and symptoms of the disease,such as changes in handwriting, cognitive functions, sense of smell, and more."
How a pet pooch can help treat Parkinson's
Sunday, May 23, 2010
A significant treatment for Parkinson's disease has been revealed by doctors - a pet pooch. Health of a 28-year-old woman with the brain disease improved thanks to her pooch. The woman, who started taking large doses of four different drugs a day to control symptoms three years after being diagnosed, had a morphine pump for 14 hours a day and her health was deteriorating fast. But after being given a highland terrier by a friend, docs reported improvements in symptoms and a drop in the drugs she needed, reports The Sun. What's more, she no longer needed her daily morphine. Doctors at Imperial College London, who report her case in the Journal Of Neurology, said: "Remarkably sustained benefits occurred, with improvement in her walking and symptoms including appetite, sleep and bowel function, as well as socialisation." Docs are not able to zero in on the reason as to how the dog had such a dramatic effect, but they say that having to walk, feed and look after the pet encouraged her to exercise regularly. (ANI)
I had Parkinson's disease at 19
Monday, May 17, 2010
 John says people do not believe his diagnosis | When John Crossley-Stanbury noticed a tremor in his little finger he ignored it. At 19 he was a fit young man and he assumed the problem was simply a trapped nerve. Two years later he went to see his GP who referred him to a neurologist. He got reassuring news. The specialist was convinced there was a benign reason for his problem. But two years later, after a barrage of tests, he was told that he had Parkinson's Disease - an incurable and progressive neurological condition. 'Too young'
People with the condition have a shortage of the brain chemical dopamine, which controls connections between nerve cells, leading to symptoms such as tremors. "My neurologist, quite rightly tested first for everything else it could possibly be," said the 26-year-old from Barnsley, South Yorkshire.  |  When they told me it was progressive and would get worse it was frightening  | "But I think my age slowed down the diagnostic process. Everyone thinks it is an old person's disease, but it does affect young people. "I was shocked by the diagnosis, but had begun to think it was something serious," he said. John, who now has trouble walking and has suffered from depression and poor sleep, said it was important that people are also told there is hope. "When they told me it was progressive and would get worse it was frightening. And to make it worse I'd done my own research on the internet and the only cases I could find were in the later stages.
"They could not speak, some could not walk and were immobile." And this is the image that wrongly sums up the disease in the eyes of the public. John met with so much disbelief about his diagnosis that he took to carrying around his consultant's letter to account for his uncontrollable shaking. "I have had people thinking I have been drinking or a druggie and I've had funny looks. "To be honest I've done it myself to others. But since my diagnosis I have thought 'no' they could have something wrong with them." Positive outlook He said that once he got over the shock of his diagnosis, he decided to be as positive as possible. John has also taken on a new determination to get things done. "I'm creative," says John, who used to run his own publishing business, "but having Parkinson's has made me want to do more creative things more quickly - before I can't do them anymore".  John was a soldier for two years | He is now writing an autobiography. But he says speaking publicly about his condition is vital to get a better understanding of the disease. "The general public do not have that much knowledge about Parkinson's or its effect on people." A recent survey by the charity Parkinson's UK confirmed this finding, showing that only 9% of the UK population realise that as many as one in 20 people with Parkinson's are diagnosed under the age of 40. Dr Kieran Breen, director of research at the charity, said that although John was exceptionally young it was myth that only the elderly have the condition. "People automatically identify Parkinson's with an older age group," he said. "We are always trying to make people aware that there are younger people with the disease. "It is difficult to diagnose in younger people, so it may not be obvious when they present at the age of 19 with symptoms. "So sometimes it can take longer to diagnose." Dr Breen said that even though the condition is incurable that there is medication to control symptoms. By Jane Elliott
Gene experts cheer decision delaying DNA test-kit sales
Sunday, May 16, 2010
by Sherry Jacobson
Dallas Morning News DALLAS - Are you prone to developing breast cancer? Worried that obesity or diabetes may be in your genes? Likely to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis in the future? A California company says it can answer those troublesome medical questions and more with the first over-the-counter DNA test. If genetics experts have their way, the test will carry a "Buyer Beware" label. The DNA test was supposed to be available at Walgreens stores Friday -until the Food and Drug Administration started asking questions. The agency challenged San Diego-based Pathway Genomics for failing toget its genetic-test kit reviewed by the FDA before taking it to the marketplace. Walgreens decided late Wednesday to delay selling the kit at 6,000 of its stores nationwide. Experts in genetic testing were relieved that the test was pulled. Pathway said in a statement last week that it was working "very diligently to ensure that our business is compliant with all applicable regulations and guidelines." "We have provided the same personal genetic report to customers for the past year and are continuing discussions with the FDA about the regulation of personal genomic information." The main concern of medical experts was that a DNA-screening test wouldn't offer conclusive enough information about a person's likelihood of developing a certain disease. Nonetheless, people still might make life-changing decisions based on those results. For example, a test might suggest that a person carries a genetic mutation that could cause a disease in an offspring. Based on that, the person might decide not to have children. Or a woman who believes she's at low risk for breast cancer might skip future mammograms. "We're very concerned that this general information will be misinterpreted," said Linda Robinson, a supervising genetics counselor at the Simmons Cancer Center at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. "Not all genetic tests are equal," she stressed. "And the public doesn't realize that." Normally, when people have questions about their disease propensities, they would go to a doctor or other genetics expert who could advise them on the availability of such a test and then interpret the results. Until the FDA stepped in last week, Pathway Genomics was planning to sell its Insight DNA test for $20 to $30. It contains instructions for mailing saliva to the company for DNA analysis. Depending on which test was being performed, the results would cost an additional $79 to $249. While the test says it can detect genetic markers for several dozen conditions, it would not be conclusive either way, experts say. The conditions range from late-onset Alzheimer's to colorectal cancer to Parkinson's disease to ulcerative colitis. The DNA test also says it has the ability to trace a person's genetic ancestry or screen for adverse reactions to certain drugs. Several other DNA-screening tests are available on the Internet,although none has FDA approval. "Getting access to genetic testing is not the hurdle to be overcome,"said Sharon Terry, president of Genetic Alliance, a Washington, D.C.,group that supports open genetic testing. "Having access to genetic information in context that provides actionable data is the barrier to be surmounted." Gene-testing products sold online or in retail stores require agency review, Alberto Gutierrez, director of the FDA office that regulates diagnostic tests, said Thursday.
Moving story of a Parkinson's patient
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Over 1.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological disorder most recently brought attention to by Michael J. Fox. In his new release, "Move On with Parkinson's: An Inspirational True Story as Told by a PD Patient" (published by LuLu), author Michael Stanfield shares his struggle with Parkinson's and the medical treatments and exercise that helped reverse his symptoms.
After years of declining health, strength and coordination, Stanfield was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease six years ago. His neurologist declared that he already had PD for at least eight to ten years before that; a surprising and unwelcome finding. He battled PD every day by sticking to a closely monitored program. The author is eager to help other Parkinson's patients who can benefit from his experience with the disease.
According to Stanfield, the new PD patient should act without delay to obtain treatment from a qualified neurologist and to undertake an intensive exercise program. The book includes detailed descriptions and photos of exercises found by the author and his personal trainer to result in the greatest improvement in PD symptoms. "Move On with Parkinson's" maintains an optimistic and helpful attitude that uses humor to keep morale high. Stanfield provides a realistic glimpse into the progressive stages of acceptance, coping and triumph as he tells new patients what to expect and more importantly, how to deal with this debilitating disease:
"When a doctor moves your arm around and lifts it by the wrist or elbow he or she is checking on its rigidity or stiffness. If your arm does not bend freely, especially at the elbow, you may have one of the key symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Jeanne says she noticed that I walked stiffly without swinging my arms, and my right elbow was bent slightly. This description is practically a text book sign of Parkinson's disease. When she called my attention to the stiff, bent elbow, I looked down, straightened my right arm and elbow, and dismissed her observation as unimportant."
"Move On with Parkinson's" is endorsed by Dr. Enrico Fazzini, DO, PhD, Director, APDA Referral and Information Center, NYU Medical Center, Manhattan, New York, "... a motivational must for the newly diagnosed, demonstrates the power of positive thinking over PD."
SOURCE AuthorHive
Be aware of your Parkinson's risks
Sunday, April 18, 2010
It was a warm October day in 2003 when my world abruptly shifted. The annoying symptoms that had been dogging me — pain and stiffness in my arm, fatigue, clumsiness, twitching in my finger — had a new name. Two exams and an MRI yielded a diagnosis that shocked me. It was Parkinson’s disease or, more accurately, a high likelihood of it.
There is no definitive diagnosis and we do not know the causes of the disease. The diagnostic process consists of ruling out other conditions. The average age of diagnosis is 60, but 15 percent of all people with the disease are much younger.
Parkinson’s disease is known for its motor symptoms: rigidity, stiffness, shuffling gait and freezing, but it affects almost every bodily system. Problems with swallowing, projecting one’s voice, digestion, fatigue,sleeplessness, depression and pain are just as common. Each individual has a different experience and the progression and severity differ from person to person. There is no way to predict the progression, no way to slow it down and no cure.
Many people are unaware of the disease’s effect. Many don’t want to think about it; maybe it frightens them. The illness has turned my life inside out. I’ve had to make countless adjustments, mentally and physically. I have learned to ask for help, walk more slowly, live life now. Humor and exercise are the best medicines.
Think about educating yourself and others about PD and get involved in some small way. Be patient with the slow person in line; she might have PD and is doing her best. She might be me.
Debra Pressman
Albemarle County
How to deal with Parkinsons Disease
Sunday, April 11, 2010
ROXANNE BROWN Staff Writer CLERMONT -- The more educated people are about Parkinson's Disease and its effects, the better off they'll be able to handle its onset. That is why Angels Care Home Health, in association with The Greater South Lake County Parkinson's Support Group, is sponsoring a seminar about the effects of Parkinson's and some of the treatments available to keep it in check. Dr. M. Alex Gonzales, a well renowned neurologist from Orlando, will be speaking on various topics associated with the disease. "That's what it's all about. To increase the scope of knowledge for people who are affected by Parkinson's," Angels spokeswoman Deborah Snow said. "The more you know about the disease, the better prepared you are for your doctor's visits, too." Snow said Gonzales is one of the few doctors in all of Central Florida that offers Deep Brain Stimulation -- a treatment for Parkinson's patients where a plate that is inserted into the brain is used to control or completely stop tremors. "I know they (members of support group) have been wanting more information about that so that's going to be the number one issues Dr. Gonzales will be focusing on," Snow said.
Father becomes one of UK's youngest Parkinson's disease sufferers at 23
Sunday, April 04, 2010
By Daily Mail Reporter
A former rugby player has been revealed as one of the UK's youngest known sufferers of Parkinson's disease, aged just 23.
Father-of-one Shaun Slicker, was diagnosed with the condition - which affects the way the brain coordinates body movements - solving a medical conundrum which baffled doctors for four years.
Now Shaun has spoken about the impact the disease has had on his life and his plans for the future with five-month-old son, Leland Wiffen-Slicker.
A father aged 23 has been told he has Parkinson's Disease - making him one of the youngest people in the country to be diagnosed with the condition.
Shaun, from Dunwood Park Courts, Shaw, near Oldham, Greater Manchester, said: 'After years of uncertainty finding out what was causing my suffering was in some way a relief, but it has also been devastating. "It was a life-changing moment.
'But everyone who knows me knows I'm a positive person and I'm determined to live my life as fully as I can.'
Longtime Smokers May Find Protection From Parkinson’s
Friday, March 19, 2010
source: American Academy of Neurology, news release In an effort to understand the relationship between tobacco smoke and Parkinson’s disease, researchers have found that smoking for many years may reduce risk for the disease but smoking a large number of cigarettes a day does not seem to reduce risk. Previous research had suggested that smokers have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.  Tobacco cessation The finding, however, comes with a caveat. “Given the many adverse consequences of smoking, no one would suggest smoking in order to prevent Parkinson’s disease,” study author Dr. Honglei Chen, of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said in a news release from the American Academy of Neurology. Rather, he said, the results “could guide the development of studies on various tobacco components with animal models to help understand the relationship between smoking and Parkinson’s disease.” “Research to reveal the underlying chemicals and mechanisms is warranted,” Chen said. “Such studies may lead to a better understanding of the causes of Parkinson’s disease.” The study included 305,468 people, 50 to 71 years old, who provided information about their diet and lifestyle when they were enrolled and again 10 years later. In that span, 1,662 (about 0.5 percent) of the participants developed Parkinson’s disease. Compared with people who’d never smoked, current smokers were 44 percent less likely to have developed Parkinson’s, and former smokers were 22 percent less likely. Further analysis revealed that the length of time people smoked affected their risk. Those who’d smoked for 40 years or more were 46 percent less likely to develop Parkinson’s than those who’d never smoked, and the risk was 35 percent less for after 30 to 39 years of smoking and 8 percent less for those who’d smoked one to nine years. The number of cigarettes a person smoked a day, however, did not affect the risk for developing Parkinson’s disease, according to the study.
Virtual stroll helps study brain
Friday, March 12, 2010
University of Sydney  The study will walk people through virtual
environments that usually help or harm
gait freezing, while getting fMRI scans
of the brain.
Image: iStockphoto A world first study on how thinking tasks impact on the 'freezing' of feet often experienced by people with Parkinson's Disease (PD) will lead to new directions for targeting therapy. Conducted by the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Research Institute and funded by The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a customised 'virtual reality' environment to elicit the so-called Freezing of Gait (FOG) in PD patients. FOG is a leading cause of falls among PD patients and responds poorly to current treatments. "While the mechanisms underlying FOG are unknown, our group recently proposed that these episodes may reflect a temporary overload in specific circuits of the brain," says the study's principle investigator Dr Simon Lewis. "Initial results have been very exciting and certainly confirm our belief that this study will identify the processes underlying FOG in Parkinson's." Whilst lying in an MRI brain scanner, patients with PD use foot pedals to 'walk' through a realistic three-dimensional environment depicted on a small screen. The virtual environment task probes the cognitive processes that often provoke freezing episodes (e.g. sliding doors) or alleviate them (e.g. striped floors). Combining fMRI with the virtual reality task helps researchers identify the abnormal pattern of brain activation responsible for FOG in PD. Dr. Lewis will present the study and its progress at the inaugural International Workshop on Freezing in Washington DC. |
Parkinson's disease makes it harder to figure out how other people feel
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Published in Health & Medicine
Scientists are beginning to find out why people with Parkinson's disease often feel socially awkward. Parkinson's patients find it harder to recognize expressions of emotion in other people's faces and voices, report two studies published by the American Psychological Association. One of the studies raises questions about how deep brain stimulation, the best available treatment for patients who no longer respond to medication, more strongly affects the recognition of fear and sadness. A neurodegenerative disorder, Parkinson's causes tremors, stiffness and balance problems, as well as fairly frequent depression and dementia.
In the March issue of Neuropsychology, Heather Gray, PhD, and Linda Tickle-Degnen, PhD, report that people with Parkinson's disease, compared with matched controls, often have difficulty discerning how others are feeling.
Their meta-analysis of 34 different studies using data from 1,295 participants shows a robust link between Parkinson's and specific deficits in recognizing emotions, especially negative emotions, across different types of stimuli and tasks.
The meta-analysis, conducted at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University, found that patients typically had some degree of problem identifying emotion from faces and voices.
Further clarification is provided in a second study that showed that deep-brain stimulation, compared with medication, caused a consistently large deficit in the recognition of fear and sadness two key facial expressions that, when understood, aid survival. That study is published in the January issue of Neuropsychology.
Researchers led by Julie Pron, PhD, at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes in France, compared the ability of people with Parkinson's in three different groups to recognize facial emotions: 24 advanced patients implanted with deep-brain stimulators after they didn't respond or were sensitive to oral levodopa (the usual drug for the disease); 20 advanced patients given apomorphine hydrochloride by injection or infusion pump while they waited an implant; and 30 healthy controls.
Researchers tested all participants using standard photographs of facial expression before and three months after they were treated. Before implantation of the stimulators, all participants read facial expressions equally well.
Patients in the surgical group were implanted with stimulators, electrical devices that prod the brain's subthalamic nucleus, a small, lens-shaped structure, to normalize the nerve signals that control movement. This nucleus is part of the basal ganglia system, which is thought to integrate movement, cognition and emotion.
Three months after treatment, only the patients with stimulators not the drug-treated patients or the healthy controls were significantly worse at recognizing fear and sadness. Patients with stimulators confused those expressions with others, such as surprise, or even no emotion. Medicated patients and healthy controls were either accurate about fear and sadness or occasionally mistook them for other negative emotions, such as disgust.
"Having Parkinson's predisposes an individual to errors in emotion recognition," said Gray. "The research in France, along with previous studies, indicates that deep-brain stimulation produces an even more severe deficit."
Why would treating a movement disorder affect the perception of emotions? Implants affect a part of the brain that reaches across functions, so the authors suggested that the same electrical stimulation that calms over-excited motor activity may also somehow inhibit emotional processing.
Although the impact of Parkinson's and deep-brain stimulation varies by patient, it's important to understand. "The first step is to educate patients and their close associates about the potential for emotion recognition difficulties, so they can learn to manage some of the social consequences, such as misunderstanding and frustration," said Gray and Tickle-Degnen. The next step might be training in emotion recognition, which they said has shown promise.
According to the National Institutes of Health, deep-brain stimulation is used to treat a variety of disabling neurological symptoms, including Parkinson's and essential tremor, a common neurological movement disorder.
At present, the procedure is used only for patients whose symptoms cannot be adequately controlled with medications. According to Pron, about 15 percent of Parkinson's disease patients are thought capable of benefiting from the surgery.
Early Symptoms Of Parkinson
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Health & Wellness Daily DigestIt is rare that a patient will begin the diagnosis process with neurologist; typically it is a general practitioner or family doctor that notices the early signs of Parkinson’s disease. What are some of the early signs or symptoms of Parkinson’s disease? Some of the early signs or symptoms of Parkinson’s that a doctor may notice in a patient is when the patient complains of not sleeping well, or when the patient loses weight for no explainable reason, or when the patient presents with not being able to make decision or when the patient is depressed or apathetic about life. The patient may also be observed to be “slowing down” in regards to physical movements. The patient may feel lightheaded when rising to a standing position, or experience difficulty in communicating such as slurred or slow speech or taking longer than normal to name things. The patient may complain of sexual dysfunction, pain in the large joints, or may complain of having vision problems that do not respond to eyeglass prescription changes. Another common complaint is that the individual may have difficulty identifying common odors. The individual may if asked admit to having difficulty making quick decisions. Upon examination, the doctor may notice slowness of movement, rigidity of body parts, tremors, and loss of the ability to stay erect or other postural implications. Sometimes the early signs of Parkinson’s disease are so subtle that only the trained eye can pick them up, otherwise they may be missed. It is in fact, difficult to diagnosis Parkinson’s disease in the early stages. Approximately 8 to 35% of cases are misdiagnosed; so difficult is making the correct diagnosis. At the present time there is no laboratory test that can be used to accurately diagnose Parkinson’s disease. It is beneficial to take a complete medical and personal history as well as a list of any and all symptoms. A list of all current medications that are being taken including prescription, non-prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin and mineral supplements as well as any herbal remedies. Exposure to known chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides and other environmental toxins should also be ascertained from the patient. Symptoms that patients or their friends or family members may notice include feeling more tired than usual, and getting shaky or having difficulty getting out of a chair or up from a couch. They may be told that they speak too softly or that it is difficult to read what they write as their handwriting has become smaller and more cramped looking than the usual handwriting. The patient may notice that they often lose their train of thought, or may be accused of being more irritable than normal. They may admit to being more depressed and may not even know why. The individual may be stiff, or unsteady, unbalanced or just plain slow while walking. As the disease progresses the tremors may be more obvious to the patient and to those around them. The tremor typically will begin in the hand. The tremors can also appear in the foot, face or jaw. The individual may complain of aches, pain or of feeling stiff or weak. Their arm or leg movements may be jerky, short or with rigidity. There may be a noticeable lack of automatic movement such as swinging of arms while walking.
Random Fluctuations Give Rise to Odd Genetic Phenomenon
Sunday, February 21, 2010
ScienceDaily —For years, biologists have wondered how it is possible that not everyperson who carries a mutated gene expresses the trait or conditionassociated with the mutation. This common but poorly understoodphenomenon, known as incomplete penetrance, exists in a wide range oforganisms, including humans.
Many mutations in genes that are linked to diseases, including Parkinson's disease and Type 1 diabetes, are incompletely penetrant. Some of this variation may be due to environmental factors and the influence of other genes, but not all: It has been shown that genetically identical organisms living in the same environment can show variability in some incompletely penetrant traits.
Now, a team of MIT biophysicists has demonstrated that some cases of incomplete penetrance are controlled by random fluctuations in gene expression. "It's not just nature or nurture," says Alexander van Oudenaarden, leader of the research team and a professor of physics and biology at MIT. "There is a random component to this. Molecules bounce around and find each other probabilistically. It doesn't work like clockwork." In a study of intestinal development of C. elegans, a small worm, the team was able to pinpoint specific fluctuations that appear to determine whether the mutant trait is expressed or not. The work, published in Nature on Feb. 18, may also be relevant to human diseases that display incomplete penetrance, such as Parkinson's disease and Type 1 diabetes, says van Oudenaarden. For example, knowing the specific points in cellular pathways that are most important in controlling a cell's response to mutation could give drug designers better targets for new therapies. The team studied the embryonic development of the digestive tract of C. elegans. The tract starts out as a single cell and eventually becomes 20 cells in the adult worm. That process is initiated by a gene called skn-1, which activates a series of other genes. Most of those genes code for transcription factors, which bind to DNA and turn on additional genes. The team first characterized normal progression of intestine development, using a probe the team members developed that binds to messenger RNA inside cells, allowing them to count the number of copies of a particular messenger RNA sequence. (Messenger RNA carries DNA's instructions to the cell's protein-building machinery.) They then studied worms with a mutation in skn-1, and found that some of the worms developed normal digestive tracts while others failed to develop a digestive tract. It appears that the controlling factor is the number of copies of mRNA produced by a gene called end-1, one of the genes activated by skn-1. The number of end-1 mRNA strands varied greatly in embryos with the mutation: In those with a number above a certain threshold, development proceeded normally; if the number was below the threshold, no digestive tract developed. It appears that evolution has produced networks of genes that smooth out the effects of those fluctuations, which are revealed only when there is a mutation in the pathway, says van Oudenaarden. Van Oudenaarden plans to use the same technique to study mammalian colon stem cells, in hopes of figuring out whether random fluctuations in gene expression influence the mutations that can cause cancer. If he can show that random fluctuations in a particular gene appear to be subject to the same threshold effect that he saw in C. elegans embryonic development, it could give drug designers new targets.
Extended-Release Mirapex Approved for Parkinson's Disease
Monday, February 08, 2010
Scott Roberts Mirapex ER (pramipexole dihydrochloride extended-release) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a once-daily option to treat early Parkinson's disease, drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim said in a news release.
Mirapex was first approved more than a decade ago. Approval of the extended-release form was based on a clinical study of more than 400 people with early Parkinson's who were assessed after nine weeks and 18 weeks. The safety, tolerability and adverse effects of the extended-release form were similar to those of original Mirapex, the company said. The most frequently reported side effects included nausea,dizziness, sleepiness, insomnia, weakness and constipation. Parkinson's is a chronic, progressive and often debilitating neurological disease affecting close to 1 million people in the United States, the drug maker said. One person is diagnosed with Parkinson's every nine minutes.
Ibuprofen May Help Prevent Parkinson's Disease
Monday, February 01, 2010
Submitted by Deborah Mitchell If you take ibuprofen regularly, you may be reducing your risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. That is the finding of a study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in April. Each year, approximately 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a type of motor system disorder that affects an estimated one million people in the United States. Getting an accurate figure of the number of people who have the disease is challenging because many people who have early symptoms of the disease assume they are associated with normal aging and so do not seek medical advice. In addition, other conditions produce symptoms similar to Parkinson’s and so the disorder may be misdiagnosed. Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; stiffness of the limbs and trunk; slowness of movement; and impaired balance and coordination. As the disease progresses, individuals often develop depression, problems with swallowing and talking, sleep disturbances, urinary problems, and skin disorders. Although Parkinson’s usually affects people older than 50, it can occur in younger people, a fact that was made well known years ago when the actor Michael J. Fox announced that he had the disease at age 30. This newest research, which was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, involved a total of 136,474 people who did not have Parkinson’s disease at the beginning of the study. The participants were questioned about their use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen. After six years, 293 participants had developed Parkinson’s disease. The researchers found that individuals who had taken ibuprofen regularly were 40 percent less likely to develop the disease when compared with people who did not take ibuprofen. The more ibuprofen that people took, the less likely they were to develop Parkinson’s disease. Use of other NSAIDs, including aspirin and acetaminophen, did not seem to have an impact on reducing the risk of developing Parkinson’s. How and why ibuprofen appears to reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease is not known and will be the topic of future research. According to the American Academy of Neurology, currently there are no blood or laboratory tests that have been proven to help in the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Diagnosis is based on a person’s medical history and a neurological examination, and brain scans can be used to rule out other diseases. It should be noted that use of ibuprofen can cause side effects, mostly gastrointestinal in nature, including abdominal distress, nausea, and indigestion. SOURCES:
American Academy of Neurology news release
Genetic Risk Factor Identified for Parkinson's Disease
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Gene Variant Influences Vitamin B6 Metabolism - An international team of doctors and human geneticists has identified a new genetic risk factor for Parkinson's disease. The institutions involved in the study were the Institute of Human Genetics of Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen and Technische Universitt Mnchen, the Neurological Clinic of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt Munich (LMU) and the Mitochondrial Research Group of Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
"Our study reveals the interaction of genetic and environmental factors such as dietary habits in the pathogenesis of Parkinsons disease,"explained Dr. Matthias Elstner of the Neurological Clinic of LMU andHelmholtz Zentrum Mnchen, lead author of the study. In addition, this genome-wide expression and association study confirms that vitamin B6status and metabolism significantly influence both disease risk and therapy response (Annals of Neurology, January, 2010).
Scientists of the two Munich universities and Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen investigated neurons in the brain to determine which genes modify their activity in Parkinsons disease. Among other findings, the research group detected increased activity of the pyridoxal kinase gene. In a subsequent international cooperation project, the researchers compared this gene in over 1,200 Parkinson patients with the genetic data of more than 2,800 healthy test subjects. In doing so, they discovered a gene variant which increases the risk for Parkinsons disease and which may lead to a modified quantity or activity of the enzyme pyridoxalkinase (PDXK) in the brain. In combination with genetic association analysis, the innovative method used here single cell expression profiling of dopaminergic neurons opens up new possibilities for analyzing genetic risk factors.
PDXK converts Vitamin B6 from food sources into its physiologically active form, which is the prerequisite for the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine.Parkinsons disease is linked to the accelerated aging and dying off of neurons that produce dopamine. The decreased synthesis of this neurotransmitter explains most of the disease symptoms: The gradual progression of the neurological disease is accompanied by muscle rigor and tremor and a slowing of movement (bradykinesia). Besides the constraints on daily life caused by these symptoms, the postural instability of the body can lead to dangerous falls. Moreover, in the course of the disease sensory symptoms like paresthesia, vegetative disorders (e.g. bladder dysfunction) and depression as well as other psychological changes can occur.
"Our study elucidates how genetic and environmental factors such as dietary habits interact in the pathogenesis of Parkinsons disease, explained Dr. Matthias Elstner of the Neurological Clinic of LMU and Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen, who is lead author of the study. Dr. Holger Prokisch, head of he research team studying mitochondrial diseases at Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen and TU Mnchen, added: Although this variant is responsible for only a slight contribution to the overall risk for Parkinsons disease, our findings could aid in developing individualized therapies."
World Parkinson Congress announced
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The second World Parkinson Conference is coming very soon.
TheWorld Parkinson Congress will be held in the UK in 2010 and peopleassociated with the disease are being given the chance to get involved.
Inits capacity as one of the five leading sponsors of the World ParkinsonCongress, the Parkinson's Disease Society (PDS) is hoping to inspireindividuals to consider issues much more at only the second congress ofits kind.
Held in Glasgow between September 28th and October1st 2010, the latest scientific discoveries, carers' initiatives andmedical practices related to Parkinson's disease will be discussed bythe leading authorities in the industry.
The event is open toanyone touched by Parkinson's, with neurologists, health professionals,scientists, people with Parkinson's and carers expected to gather toshare knowledge and develop partnerships to identify best practice inorder to further the development of a cure for the condition.
Thisweek, the PDS announced that it is looking for people to join TrekNepal, which it has described as one of the charity's "most excitingfundraising events of 2010".
Stomach hormone protects against Parkinson’s disease
Monday, January 11, 2010
A hormone produced in the stomach may be used to boost resistance toParkinsons disease because of its protecting action on dopamineneurons.
Parkinsons a degenerative disease of the centralnervous system - develops when dopamine cells die, and reducedproduction of dopamine in late-stage Parkinsons can cause difficultyin walking, restricted or delayed movement, lack of appetite anddifficulty eating, freezing or motionlessness, and head and limbtremors. Researchers from Yale School of Medicine found that ghrelin, ahormone produced in the stomach, is protective of dopamine neurons.
Wealso found that, in addition to its influence on appetite, ghrelin isresponsible for direct activation of the brains dopamine cells.Because the hormone originates from the stomach, it is circulatingnormally in the body, so it could easily be used to boost resistance toParkinsons or it could be used to slow the development of thedisease, said Tamas Horvath, chair and professor of comparativemedicine and professor of neurobiology and obstetrics & gynaecologyat Yale School of Medicine.
Horvath - who studied the actionof ghrelin in mice - suggests the results could easily be translated tohumans because the ghrelin system is preserved through various species.Horvath and his colleagues conducted the study in mice that received aghrelin supplement and those that were deficient in the hormone andreceptor. When compared to control mice, those with impaired ghrelinaction in the brain had a greater loss of dopamine.
Horvathand his team will now try to establish ghrelin levels in both healthyindividuals and Parkinsons patients, and determine whether alteredghrelin levels might be biomarkers of disease development andvulnerability.
Ghrelin is associated with the release of growthhormones, appetite, learning and memory, and reward circuitry for thebrain that regulates food cravings. Recent studies show that body massindex, stored fat and diabetes are linked to Parkinsons, and obesityis a risk factor for neurodegeneration in mice.
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