Word: parkinsonism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Another gene, newly dubbed the parkin gene, has also been getting a lot of attention. In 1998 Japanese researchers reported on studies conducted on five young patients with early-onset Parkinson's, all of whom carried a recessive gene that appeared to be associated with the disease. Though relatively rare, the parkin gene is much more common than the defective alpha-synuclein gene, and in places like China, with high rates of early-onset Parkinson's, it may play a role in a significant number of cases. Just last October, researchers at Duke University Medical Center went a step further...
Just as important as protecting healthy neurons is repairing or replacing nerve cells that have been damaged. The body produces a whole bath of trophic--or growth--factors that help cells develop. If the brains of Parkinson's patients could be fortified with additional trophic doses, many scientists believe, damaged neurons might be reawakened or repaired. While there is some thought in the medical community about engineering genes to churn out the substances, the pharmaceutical industry is taking a more direct approach...
Whether such an anti-Parkinson's potion is really so close at hand is unclear, but scientists are not waiting to find out. Other possible treatments under study include boosting antioxidants, which would protect brain cells from free radicals, highly reactive molecules that are by-products of oxidation; and blocking the body's production of compounds called excitatory amino acids, which can cause neuron damage. It's hard to say which, if any, of these treatments will succeed, but with science closing in from so many directions, it's possible that for the first time, Parkinson's disease may find...
...PARKINSON'S DISEASE In an important step forward for both Parkinson's research and the struggling field of gene therapy, scientists in Chicago used a gene that boosts dopamine production and strengthens brain cells to successfully treat monkeys showing symptoms of the neurodegenerative disorder. By injecting a virus containing the GDNF (glial-derived neurotrophic factor) gene directly into monkeys' brains, scientists stimulated cell growth in areas normally injured by Parkinson's and reduced symptoms of the disease, such as hand tremors. Although success in primates doesn't mean success in humans, researchers hope to start clinical trials in humans within...
...advanced conotoxin-derived drug in development is Elan Corp.'s Ziconotide, a nonaddictive treatment for severe chronic pain that is awaiting FDA approval. Cognetix, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, recently started clinical trials on a possible epilepsy treatment. Also in the works: potential therapies for schizophrenia, stroke and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases...