Hormone Slows Parkinson’s

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 30, 2009

Entire Item at: http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/11...sons/9824.html

A hormone produced in the stomach may be used to provide resistance to, or slow, the development of Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease is caused by a degeneration of dopamine neurons in an area of the midbrain known as the substantia nigra, which is responsible for dopamine production.

Yale researcher Tamas Horvath and colleagues found that the hormone ghrelin is protective of the dopamine neurons.

When the dopamine cells get sick and die, Parkinson’s can develop. “We also found that, in addition to its influence on appetite, ghrelin is responsible for direct activation of the brain’s dopamine cells,” said Horvath.

“Because this hormone originates from the stomach, it is circulating normally in the body, so it could easily be used to boost resistance to Parkinson’s or it could be used to slow the development of the disease.”



Stomach Hormone Can Boost Resistance To Or Slow Down Parkinson's, Study

Medical News Today, Article Date: 30 Nov 2009 - 2:00 PST

US researchers report finding that ghrelin, a hormone produced in the stomach that regulates appetite and how the body deposits fat, may be used to boost resistance to or slow the development of Parkinson's disease.

The study is the work of Dr Tamas Horvath, chair and professor of comparative medicine and professor of neurobiology and obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues and was published earlier this month in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder where dopamine neurons in an area of the midbrain known as the substantia nigra, which is responsible for dopamine production, start to die off.