http://www.canada.com/topics/news/wo...1c8fe884ed&p=1
Given enough funding, a cure for Parkinson's disease could be in the hands of physicians within 10 years, a noted researcher says.

Ms. Van Kampen, a native of Charlottetown, is an assistant professor of neuroscience at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Her findings were published in July in a much-noticed article in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Parkinson's is caused by the degeneration of neurons in a structure of the midbrain called the substantia nigra. Those neurons produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps the brain control movement.

By the time Parkinson's is diagnosed, there is already extensive damage of those neurons, damage that physicians and researchers always assumed was irreversible.

Working with rats, Ms. Van Kampen has found ways of coaxing dormant neurons to take on the dopamine-producing role of the damaged neurons and to restore the brain's control of movement.

Scientists have gradually been accepting that many structures in the brain can regenerate themselves. In the hippocampus, which helps create memories, generation of new neurons is part and parcel of the process of memory creation.

"But no one thought regeneration occurred in the substantia nigra," Ms. Van Kampen says. "Five years ago, they called my idea 'completely crazy'."

Throughout the brain, there are undifferentiated cells called progenitor cells that, with the right stimulation, can transform themselves into more specific types of cells. Some of them are in the substantia nigra, and Ms. Van Kampen hoped to find a way to convince those cells to become dopamine neurons. Working with Parkinsonian rats, she found a drug that increased the number of dopamine neurons by 180 per cent.

Sophisticated brain scanning showed that those new dopamine neurons were working well. But the proof of the pudding was the behaviour of the rats: Their movements, which previously showed problems typical of Parkinson's, were now almost fully restored to normal -- what Ms. Van Kampen calls "a functional recovery."

Rats aren't people, and finding the equivalent way of coaxing progenitor cells in human brains to appropriately mutate is not a slam-dunk exercise, but Ms. Van Kampen feels sure the task is doable, given enough funding and perhaps a decade of hard research.

Equally important as generating cells to replace damaged neurons is the protection of neurons that are still intact. Ms. Van Kampen has found that ginseng, that most ancient of healing herbs, is very effective. When she treated rats with ginseng and then administered a toxin that would destroy cells in the substantia nigra, she found on post mortem examination that those cells were "almost completely protected."Finally, in a finding that will gratify mothers and gym teachers, she's found that exercise reduces the severity of Parkinson's.
She put some Parkinsonian rats, normally housed in shoe box-sized cages, into a much larger, three-level ferret cage that amounted to "a giant rat condo," complete with running wheels and chewing blocks.

"We found that rats in this enriched environment recovered some neurons in the substantia nigra," she says. "And I guess that speaks to the importance of keeping active, for everyone."

FYI, Van Kampen's full name is Jackalina M. Van Kampen. Also, she's a doctor, a PhD. This from many Google search results. Cheers!

First, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the cure. I was told pretty much the same thing 10 years ago when I was diagnosed.
Second, while Van Kampen's research is exciting to read, the first few words of the article are the key, "Given enough funding".
Third, a problem persist that many seem to consistently over look. Whether the cells are regenerated or implanted into the brain, what's to keep them from dieing off. They have not fixed the original problem that is causing the cells to die off in the first place. Therefore any regenerated or implanted cells will become "infected" (for the loss of a proper word) and die off as well.

GregD

But now that Greg has opened the door-
"Brrkkkkk!" (with tongue stuck out while hopping on one foot and then the other.)

The only way that we are going to see a cure is if one of us stumbles over it and lets the rest know before they kill him. We are too valuable to be allowed to leave.

I think you're right. I have stumbled onto something too. I started taking Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D a few months ago (for non PD reasons) and noticed that my offs were not as severe. About a month ago I added Vitamin B2. What I noticed is that I felt calmer and still do and that my dyskinesia has lessened. And I'm sleeping much better too.

Anyone else taking these supplements?

I was told it would be possibly cured in 5 -10 years, and that was in 1994,
more than a decade has come and gone -
no cure - one promising adult stem cell surgery - stolen
the GBNF - stolen...

stumble upon research is U and I ...
once all were geared up for stem cells - nix
now they find new info - new info is burried?

afraid you're are on the money guys. you just know when such a rediculous claim is made..usually with some authority...the person making the claim hasn't a clue what they're on about. usually such claims are followd by the old hand out for unearned dosh, and that is followed by the miraculous cure of yet another rodent.

Meanwhile, real science gets on with it. All eyes glued to the Nurologix trial and of course the Ceregene gene therapy ripper

I take exactly the same B12 methycobalamine -and once a week - B 12 complex, vitamin D made by jarrow - and ashwaghanda...
if I do not take the supplements - meds do not work - as I am a shaker,
this helps my CNS...

Are repeatedly linked to PD. And the symptoms of some B-deficiencies are eerily like those of PD. Sure we get enough in our diet. But do we absorb enough? Do we have the proper enzymes? Is the flora in our gut the right mix and functioning properly? Do we require the same amounts as the median?

There is a lot of room here for more than just not taking enough into the system.

Would it be safe to take one of each of the B's every day (recommended daily dosage of each)? Or is there one that takes care of all of them.