Hi John,

Thank you for sharing that article, but to me, I don't buy it. I appreciate science's cautious approach to advance, but I think Dr. Moussa's promising work is such a radical departure from the established line of research (and "accepted" theory) in PD/dementia that it represents quite a threat. I anticipate a tremendous amount of push back because if he is correct, pharma stands to lose billions of dollars in PD drug sales, researchers all over the world could be out of a job, and what would happen to all of those Parkinson's Centers of Excellence?

I am reminded of the ridicule, even villifying, of Dr. Peter Jannetta (highly esteemed neuro but sadly now deceased) when he was working on what is now the gold standard procedure for trigemina neuralgia. He was correct, and he persisted despite professional ridicule. Countless patients have been saved immeasurable suffering by the procedure he invented and pioneered, and which is now known worldwide as The Jannetta Procedure.

It is perhaps more than coincidental that both Dr. Moussa and Dr. Jannetta approached things from a vascular point of view. Dr. Jannetta's famous procedure involves moving blood vessels away from the trigeminal nerve, as the blood vessel(s) pulsing against it is apparently the cause of the problem.

In his later years, Dr. Jannetta treated a patient with both well-established PD AND trigeminal neuralgia. He performed his Jannetta Procedure, and when the lady woke up, both her pain and spasms from TN, AND her PD symptoms were gone. It made some news, and I tried to get this procedure for my husband but Dr. Jannetta passed away and no one else was remotely interested or willing to try this surgery for my husband (not faulting that-it is brain surgery and would be experimental at that).

The point being that Dr. Moussa's work represents a massive upheaval and disruption in the way PD is both researched and treated. I have researched PD and dementia for almost twenty years now. I think that there are a lot of very powerful forces that will not only not welcome Dr. Moussa's work, but will actively try to discredit and discourage it. Billions of dollars, annually at that, is made from PD treatments, research, therapies, etc.

I am not at all surprised the article you cited came from JAMA...and so soon after Dr. Moussa announced his earlier results! Simply amazing (sarc).

Sorry to be so skeptical. IMHO I believe Dr. Moussa is on to something very promising and faces an uphill battle to get his results recognized, just like Dr. Jannetta. I hope he is able to succeed