How Close To A Cure For Parkinson’s

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Advanced And Future Treatments For Parkinsons

While theres no cure for Parkinsons disease, recent research has led to improved treatments.

Scientists and doctors are working together to find a treatment or prevention technique. Research is also seeking to understand who is more likely to develop the disease. In addition, scientists are studying the genetic and environmental factors that increase the chance of a diagnosis.

Here are the latest treatments for this progressive neurological disorder.

In 2002, the FDA approved deep brain stimulation as a treatment for Parkinsons disease. But advances in DBS were limited because only one company was approved to make the device used for the treatment.

In June 2015, the FDA approved the

How Far Have We Come

There are only a few examples in history where a single approach has provided a cure for everyone with a condition, and Parkinsons will be no different. It will involve different treatments and therapies at different times for different people. But the multiple pieces of this puzzle are starting to come together, and we are starting to make breakthroughs that could relieve symptoms for the rest of life.

Parkinsons is a progressive neurological condition that affects about 145,000 people in the UK and an estimated 714 million people worldwide. There is currently no cure, and we desperately need better treatments.

You can help us speed up the development of new and better treatments, and a cure for Parkinsons by donating to groundbreaking research today.

How Close Are We To A Cure For Parkinsons

Saskia Mair of Parkinsons Lifeinterviews Sohini Chowdhury, Deputy CEO of the Michael J Fox Foundation.

How close do you think the scientific community is to finding a cure for Parkinsons?

Whenever I say the word cure, I kind of put it in quotes. I think its important to remember that a cure can mean different things to different people.

If youre able to improve the symptom management of the disease to an extent where having the disease has very little impact on your day to day life, that could be considered a cure.

If youre able to slow or halt the disease progression so that the moment you get diagnosed, it never progresses beyond that point but youre still taking a pill every day for the rest of your life, that could be a cure.

Theres a recognition now that Parkinsons is not one disease experience. It is a disease experience that is very variable, so we have to be open minded because a cure for one person could be very different than a cure for another person.

I think the fact that this is now accepted in the research community is a good thing for patients. Its not a one size fit all approach. We have finally understood that we need lots of different cures to fit the different patient experiences under the name Parkinsons disease.

In terms of how close we are is it tomorrow? Absolutely not. But theres so many resources, money, scientific knowledge, and brainpower across the world being put forth into this.

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Why Arent We Closer To Finding A Cure For Parkinsons

Heres a question we and those in our community consider every day: With all of the money that is going toward finding a cure for Parkinsons, why arent we there yet? So, when we had the chance to sit down with Pete Schmidt, a member of our Board and the Vice Dean at the Brody School of Medicine and Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Care Regulatory Affairs at East Carolina University, we asked him this question:

What Will A Cure For Parkinson’s Look Like

Because Parkinson’s varies so much from person to person, there may not be a single ‘cure’.

Instead we may need a range of different therapies to meet the needs of the individual and their specific form of the condition.

This mix may include treatments, therapies and strategies that can:

• slow or stop the progression of the condition
• replace or repair lost or damaged brain cells
• control and manage particular symptoms
• diagnose Parkinson’s at the earliest possible stage.

And this could involve medical treatments, such as drugs and surgical approaches, as well as lifestyle changes, for example to diet and exercise.

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Medication For Parkinsons Disease

Once the doctor diagnoses Parkinsons disease, the next decision is whether a patient should receive medication, which depends on the following:

• The degree of functional impairment

• The degree of cognitive impairment

• Ability to tolerate antiparkinsonian medication

• The advice of the attending doctor

No two patients react the same way to a given drug, therefore, it takes time and patience to find an appropriate medication and dosage to alleviate symptoms.

How Can Stem Cell Technology Help

Stem cell technologies show promise for treating Parkinson’s Disease and may play an increasing role in alleviating at least the motor symptoms, if not others, in the decades to come.

“We are in desperate need of a better way of helping people with Parkinson’s disease. It is on the increase worldwide. There is still no cure, and medications only go part way to fully treat incoordination and movement problems,” said Claire Henchcliffe, from Weill Cornell Medical College in the US.

“If successful, using stem cells as a source of transplantable dopamine-producing nerve cells could revolutionize care of the Parkinson’s disease patient in the future,” said Malin Parmar, from Lund University in Sweden.

“A single surgery could potentially provide a transplant that would last throughout a patient’s lifespan, reducing or altogether avoiding the need for dopamine-based medications,” said Parmar.

In the past, most transplantation studies in PD used human cells from aborted embryos. While these transplants could survive and function for many years, there were scientific and ethical issues — foetal cells are in limited supply, and they are highly variable and hard to quality control.

Some patients were treated, while another developed allergy with the graft.

This approach is now rapidly moving into initial testing in clinical trials, researchers said.

The first systematic clinical transplantation trials using pluripotent stem cells as donor tissue were initiated in Japan in 2018.

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What Is Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinsons disease is movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time. As nerve cells in parts of the brain weaken or are damaged or die, people may begin to notice problems with movement, tremor, stiffness in the limbs or the trunk of the body, or impaired balance. As these symptoms become more obvious, people may have difficulty walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks. Not everyone with one or more of these symptoms has PD, as the symptoms appear in other diseases as well.

No cure for PD exists today, but research is ongoing and medications or surgery can often provide substantial improvement with motor symptoms.

First Hints Parkinson’s Can Be Stopped

Health and science reporter, BBC News website

It may be possible to stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease with a drug normally used in type 2 diabetes, a clinical trial suggests.

Current drugs help manage the symptoms, but do not prevent brain cells dying.

The trial on 62 patients, published in the Lancet, hints the medicine halted the progression of the disease.

The University College London team is “excited”, but it urges caution as any long-term benefit is uncertain and the drug needs more testing.

“There’s absolutely no doubt the most important unmet need in Parkinson’s is a drug to slow down disease progression, it’s unarguable,” Prof Tom Foltynie, one of the researchers, told the BBC.

In Parkinson’s, the brain is progressively damaged and the cells that produce the hormone dopamine are lost.

It leads to a tremor, difficulty moving and eventually memory problems.

Therapies help manage symptoms by boosting dopamine levels, but the death of the brain continues and the disease gets worse.

No drug stops that happening.

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What Are Your Hopes For The Future Of Parkinsons Research

At the Foundation, we really are incredibly hopeful that a lot of the research that were supporting is going to yield a tangible benefit for patients.

The fact that theres so much in the pipeline, from preclinical all the way to clinical testing, means theres more thats going to come out. Its so important to have a lot of different things out there, so that patients with their care team can figure out how to get the most out of what is available.

Theres such an important role for the patient community to play in getting engaged with the search. If you have, please continue to do so. And if you havent, consider it and learn about it. There are a lot of ways to get engaged and Im pretty sure that youll find one that is comfortable for you. Were there to help and be your partner in this, because we cant do it alone.

A cure may still be a few years out, or several years out or a decade. But theres so much we can do between then that will impact a person whos living with Parkinsons in a very positive way.

Need to know

Sohini Chowdhury is deputy CEO of the Michael J Fox Foundation, US, overseeing the Research Partnerships team. She also works with the board of directors and executive leadership to advance the organisations work as a stakeholder in drug development. Find out more about the Michael J Fox Foundation.

To find out more about the latest Parkinsons disease research, please visit the EPDA website.

Read more:

Lrrk2 Inhibitor For Parkinsons Disease

Meanwhile, a San Francisco-based biotech company called Denali Therapeutics , which went public back in December 2017, conducted phase 1b of a 28-day clinical trial for its LRRK2 inhibitor, DNL201, late last year. The company says inhibition of LRRK2 activity may potentially slow the progression of Parkinsons disease in patients with a genetic LRRK2 mutation, as well as in patients with sporadic Parkinsons disease. The therapy is designed to correct the lysosomal system, which serves as the landfill and recycling department of the cell. Lysosomal dysfunction is associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons.

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Shocking Facts About Parkinson’s Disease:

1. In 2015, PD affected 6.2 million people and resulted in about 117,400 deaths globally.

2. There’s no known cause of PD.

3. Parkinson’s disease typically occurs in people over the age of 60, of which about one per cent are affected.

4. Males are more often affected than females at a ratio of around 3:2.

5. The disease is named after the English doctor James Parkinson, who published the first detailed description in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, in 1817.

6. The average life expectancy following diagnosis is between 7 and 14 years.

What Medications Are Used To Treat Parkinsons Disease

Medications are the main treatment method for patients with Parkinsons disease. Your doctor will work closely with you to develop a treatment plan best suited for you based on the severity of your disease at the time of diagnosis, side effects of the drug class and success or failure of symptom control of the medications you try.

Medications combat Parkinsons disease by:

• Helping nerve cells in the brain make dopamine.
• Mimicking the effects of dopamine in the brain.
• Blocking an enzyme that breaks down dopamine in the brain.
• Reducing some specific symptoms of Parkinsons disease.

Levodopa: Levodopa is a main treatment for the slowness of movement, tremor, and stiffness symptoms of Parkinsons disease. Nerve cells use levodopa to make dopamine, which replenishes the low amount found in the brain of persons with Parkinsons disease. Levodopa is usually taken with carbidopa to allow more levodopa to reach the brain and to prevent or reduce the nausea and vomiting, low blood pressure and other side effects of levodopa. Sinemet® is available in an immediate release formula and a long-acting, controlled release formula. Rytary® is a newer version of levodopa/carbidopa that is a longer-acting capsule. The newest addition is Inbrija®, which is inhaled levodopa. It is used by people already taking regular carbidopa/levodopa for when they have off episodes .

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What Are The Symptoms Of The Disease

The four primary symptoms of PD are:

• Tremor. Tremor often begins in a hand, although sometimes a foot or the jaw is affected first. The tremor associated with PD has a characteristic rhythmic back-and-forth motion that may involve the thumb and forefinger and appear as a pill rolling. It is most obvious when the hand is at rest or when a person is under stress. This tremor usually disappears during sleep or improves with a purposeful, intended movement.
• Rigidity. Rigidity , or a resistance to movement, affects most people with PD. The muscles remain constantly tense and contracted so that the person aches or feels stiff. The rigidity becomes obvious when another person tries to move the individuals arm, which will move only in ratchet-like or short, jerky movements known as cogwheel rigidity.
• Bradykinesia. This slowing down of spontaneous and automatic movement is particularly frustrating because it may make simple tasks difficult. The person cannot rapidly perform routine movements. Activities once performed quickly and easilysuch as washing or dressingmay take much longer. There is often a decrease in facial expressions.
• Postural instability. Impaired balance and changes in posture can increase the risk of falls.

How Can People Cope With Parkinson’s Disease

While PD usually progresses slowly, eventually daily routines may be affectedfrom socializing with friends to earning a living and taking care of a home. These changes can be difficult to accept. Support groups can help people cope with the diseases emotional impact. These groups also can provide valuable information, advice, and experience to help people with PD, their families, and their caregivers deal with a wide range of issues, including locating doctors familiar with the disease and coping with physical limitations. A list of national organizations that can help people locate support groups in their communities appears at the end of this information. Individual or family counseling may also help people find ways to cope with PD.

People with PD may also benefit from being proactive and finding out as much as possible about the disease in order to alleviate fear of the unknown and to take a positive role in maintaining their health. Many people with PD continue to work either full- or part-time, although they may need to adjust their schedule and working environment to accommodate their symptoms.

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Is Parkinsons Disease Inherited

Scientists have discovered gene mutations that are associated with Parkinsons disease.

There is some belief that some cases of early-onset Parkinsons disease disease starting before age 50 may be inherited. Scientists identified a gene mutation in people with Parkinsons disease whose brains contain Lewy bodies, which are clumps of the protein alpha-synuclein. Scientists are trying to understand the function of this protein and its relationship to genetic mutations that are sometimes seen in Parkinsons disease and in people with a type of dementia called Lewy body dementia.

Several other gene mutations have been found to play a role in Parkinsons disease. Mutations in these genes cause abnormal cell functioning, which affects the nerve cells ability to release dopamine and causes nerve cell death. Researchers are still trying to discover what causes these genes to mutate in order to understand how gene mutations influence the development of Parkinsons disease.

Scientists think that about 10% to 15% of persons with Parkinsons disease may have a genetic mutation that predisposes them to development of the disease. There are also environmental factors involved that are not fully understood.

When Will There Be A Cure For Parkinsons Disease

You can tell a lot about a culture from its Armageddon myths, as propagated through pop culture. We have created quite a few across the last few decades, from the dystopian futures of Mad Max and the Terminator to the zombie apocalypses that have come to populate many an end-of-the-world tale. The latter often entail some experiment gone horribly awry, leading to a pandemic far more lethal and gruesome than any ever caused, for example, by influenza. Earlier this year, scientists warned of a possible new pandemic that has nothing to do with diseased bat guano, genetically modified whatever, or ancient Egyptian curses. Parkinsons Disease is on the rise, and so far theres no cure for this rare neurodegenerative disease.

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How Is Parkinsons Disease Treated

While there is no cure for Parkinsons disease yet, doctors manage a patients symptoms to help give them a better quality of living.

Some treatments include supportive therapies, such as physiotherapy, and medication, which replace dopamine in the brain, while others require surgery.

The medications used to treat PD are the following:

• Levodopa

• MAO B inhibitors

• Anticholinergics

• Amantadine

Levodopa: This is the most common drug and is mixed with Carbidopa. This drug is digested and transformed into dopamines in the brain. Side effects of this drug include dizziness, diarrhea, loss of appetite, constipation, loss of memory, confusion, or change in the sense of taste. That is the reason why Carbidopa is added to the treatment, which deals with these side effects.

Dopamine agonists: This is an alternative to levodopa-carbidopa. It tricks the mind that it is receiving dopamine. This is less potent than levodopa and is less likely to cause dyskinesias. Side effects of dopamine agonists include nausea, hallucination, and lightheadedness. This treatment must be given at a low dose and should be increased gradually to prevent these effects.

COMT inhibitors: COMT inhibitors such as entacapone and tolcapone are some of the latest technologies in PD treatment. Although it does not directly affect the symptoms, this drug blocks the metabolism of levodopa, prolonging its effect.

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