A while ago, Fiona started a great thread asking for proof that our neurons actually die in PD. I'm reviving it with a twist for some of our newer members based on some very current research. Here is the original thread:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...of+neurons+die

One of the questions asked was on apoptosis. It is what is described as programmed cell death and normally it is healthy for us. A few sources on the Internet say it is common for us to both lose and regenerate 50-70 billion cells a day. Essentially in PD, our cells in the SN are triggered by something (toxin, virus, stress and genetics) to commit mass suicide or are they being murdered? Is this essentially apoptosis run amok as in an auto-immune response, or is it an assault by something that fatally disarms our cells? BTW, here is a really great primer on apoptosis.

There is proof that most of our dopaminergic cells in this area of the brain do die off, but curiously they don't all die. I'd say although crude, PET scans and more accurately, post mortems show that they die. However, we don't end up losing all of them. Recent research published just this month is the first to measure through PET scan the brains of people with long-standing PD (duration at least 20 years). Surprisingly, they found a "reserve" of dopaminergic cells showing that there is a reason not all die off and giving hope that neurorestoration is somehow possible.

Residual striatal dopaminergic nerve terminals in very long-standing Parkinson's disease: A single photon emission computed tomography imaging study.

Doesn't it stand to reason that by looking at the remaining cells that they would yield clues as to how they end up surviving in comparison to the tangled Lewy bodies left behind by the ones that drank the kool-aid. Or, is there something in us that regulates that we will retain 10-15 % (arbitrary number) of our neurons? If we could just harness the power of what that something is....
Even if we could just start measuring how much neuronal loss we have at diagnosis as a baseline, we could at least scientifically chart clinical progression for a change. This would give us much more of a sound base for staging the disease then the Hahn & Yoehr. All these what ifs. You'd think I'd learn by now.

Finally, here is a really informative article on just what is going on at the cellular level in our brains (and in AD and Huntington's). Turns out that it looks like a valiant attempt is made to save our cells but those nasty unfolding proteins get in the way and they end up dying instead.

Cellular Stress Responses: Cell Survival and Cell Death

Why isn't science focusing on more treatments to interrupt this process? To date, I think the Alpha-Synuclein targeted vaccine being developed and tested next year at Affiris is the only treatment in the pipeline that even comes close. Can we participate in clinical trials worldwide? The vaccine trial starts next year but in Austria.

Laura