Approved drug for strokes found to halt PD progression but we have to wait forever for making use of it . Mean time we should use what ever means to improve blood flow to the brain including exercise./ Imad

MSU, Van Andel investigate drug to halt Parkinson’s progression
In 2009, investigators from the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Arizona and Arizona State University reported that a form of Fasudil had the potential to help improve learning and memory and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Van Andel researchers also recently Aproved for strokes found to halt PD progressiondiscovered the potential of the drug in Parkinson's when they were testing various drugs that reduce the toxicity caused by a defective PARK1 gene, a gene implicated in Parkinson's disease.

"The potential of this drug is exciting not only because it could halt disease progression where other treatments only provide symptomatic relief but also because of how quickly it could be made available to patients," said Jeffrey P. MacKeigan, head of Van Andel's Laboratory of Systems Biology and co-investigator on the project with Caryl E. Sortwell of MSU's College of Human Medicine.

"Fasudil has a very favorable safety profile in humans and already is available in Japan as an oral tablet, so we could be seeing clinical trials within two to three years," MacKeigan added.

The development of new drugs is expensive and time-consuming, said Kuldip Dave, associate director of research programs at MJFF.