slowing progression of disease
 

I haven't been active on this board for quite some time, although I do occasionally lurk. My step-mother cut out an article in the Kenosha (Wisconsin) newspaper. It reads as follows:

Researchers may have uncovered drug to slow Parkinsonn's

Using a new kind of clinical trial, researchers may have discovered the first drug that can delay the progression of Parkinson's disease, a disabling and ultimately fatal neurological disorder.

Several drugs are available that can mitigate the symptoms of Parkinson's, but that very easing of the symptoms makes it extremely difficult to tell whether the drug is having any permanent effect on the disease itself.

To get around that problem, Dr. C. Warren Olanow of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and his colleagues used an unusual clinical trial design called a delayed-start trial. The idea of the trial is to start two groups of patients on a drug at different times. If the drug is actually delaying the progression of the disease, then the group that gets it later should not receive as great a benefit as those who received it first.

Olanow and his colleagues at 129 medical centers in 14 countries studied 1,176 patients with early Parkinson's disease who had not been given other forms of therapy. Half the patients were given the drug rasagiline (sold under the brand name Azilect by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel) and half a placebo. After nine months, the group that had been given placebo also was given rasagiline, while those who had received it initially continued to receive it. The progression of their disease was measured on the widely used Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, which ranges from zero to 176 and includes subscales of mental function, activities of daily living and motor events. Higher scores indicate more severe disease.

The team reported Wednesday in the New England journal of Medicine that patients given a 1 milligram dose of the drug for the entire 18 months of the study showed less worsening of the disease in the first nine months. Their symptoms were improved as much as those in the second group during the second nine months of the study. In short, they were better off at the end of the 18 months than the patients who had received Azilect for only nine months, suggesting that the drug had delayed the course of the disease.

Has anyone else heard of this trial? I know some of you have taken, or are currently taking, Azilect. For those in that group, have you noticed it slowing your progression?

Maybe this is old news ... like I said, I haven't been posting much, but I thought it was worth reporting anyway.

I hope all are doing well this evening.

[QUOTE=proudest_mama;580596]I haven't been active on this board for quite some time, although I do occasionally lurk. My step-mother cut out an article in the Kenosha (Wisconsin) newspaper. It reads as follows:

Researchers may have uncovered drug to slow Parkinsonn's

Using a new kind of clinical trial, researchers may have discovered the first drug that can delay the progression of Parkinson's disease, a disabling and ultimately fatal neurological disorder.
/QUOTE]

Terry,

These test results are actually pretty current, but I think some of us, at least, I regard them with a healthy dose of skepticism. The drug studied is Azilect, and this is the 2nd time they've pushed the neuroprotective angle when in fact the results are pretty unremarkable and inconsistent in some cases. I think a really good look at the whole study design, results, etc. are discussed thoroughly at the MJFF website. - Laura

http://www.michaeljfox.org/research_...icle.cfm?ID=15

Terry,

These test results are actually pretty current, but I think some of us, at least, I regard them with a healthy dose of skepticism. The drug studied is Azilect, and this is the 2nd time they've pushed the neuroprotective angle when in fact the results are pretty unremarkable and inconsistent in some cases. I think a really good look at the whole study design, results, etc. are discussed thoroughly at the MJFF website. - Laura

http://www.michaeljfox.org/research_...icle.cfm?ID=15