Parkinson’s: hope on the horizon

y Patsy Westcott , Monday 15 April 2013
From dancing to simply thinking about exercise – these are just two of a whole range of new ideas that offer real promise in combating Parkinson’s disease, from which 160,000 people will suffer by 2020...

... ‘It affects the central nervous system and involves destruction of cells that produce the brain chemical dopamine, which helps to regulate movement, mood, sleep, memory and emotion.

‘And it’s not only dopamine. Doctors are realising that other brain chemicals are involved, including stress hormones that control the autonomic nervous system responsible for automatic activities such as breathing, blood pressure, heart rate and so on, as well as the feel-good hormone serotonin...."


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Towards earlier diagnosis for Parkinson's disease


The aim is to come up with a simple tool that GPs and others could use to identify people at risk of Parkinson’s, who could one day be prescribed brain-protective drugs...

Dance magic for patients with Parkinson's disease
... studies suggest that dance may help to improve both physical symptoms such as poor balance and ‘freezing’, and cognitive skills, such as decision-making, which can be impaired in people with Parkinson’s...



Brain training for Parkinson's disease patients
Neuropsychiatrist Professor David Linden of Cardiff University, meanwhile, has been looking at whether ‘brain training’ may help to modify some of the movement symptoms of Parkinson’s. Using MRI scanning to view the brain in action, Prof Linden and his colleagues found that patients in the early stages of the disease can control a part of the brain linked with movement simply by the power of thought...



Is Parkinson's disease in the genes?
... experts have been rethinking the gene factor. A family history of Parkinson’s is strongly linked with an increased risk. And, while only 5-10% of sufferers have inherited a single faulty gene, it’s now believed that changes in multiple genes, each with a relatively weak effect, combined with the other risk factors, may be key. Genes load the gun but environment and lifestyle pull the trigger, as it were...

Stem cell hope for Parkinson's

Does Parkinson's disease start in the stomach?

... An (albeit small) study by scientists from Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center found clumps of alpha-synuclein, a key protein that is found in the brains of people with Parkinson’s, in the colons of people who later went on to develop the disease.

Closer to home, a team led by neuroscientist Dr Jeff Davies of Swansea University is investigating whether the ‘hunger hormone’ ghrelin, which is higher before meals, might prevent the loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells....



A brighter outlook for people with Parkinson's disease
With all these and other studies, the outlook for people with Parkinson’s certainly looks brighter than it has for some time. As Dr Noyce observes, ‘There are tremendous efforts being made internationally, which has led to progress on multiple fronts – all of which is positive for people with Parkinson’s both now and in future.’

http://www.saga.co.uk/saga-magazine/...e-horizon.aspx