ANN ARBOR, MI (MICHIGAN RADIO) - A Michigan State University researcher is working on new treatments for Parkinson's disease.
Dr. John Goudreau says a protein known as "parkin" can save certain neurons in the brain from injury caused by Parkinson's disease.
The associate professor of neurology, pharmacology and toxicology is using a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to explore his theory.
Goudreau uses a boxing analogy.
"So you have a couple of prizefighters," Goudreau says. "One gets hit and goes down to the mat and can't get up. These other cells that seem to be resistant to the disease take the same kind of hit, they go down to the mat, but they can bounce back up again and again. So we wanted to figure out why they were able to do that."
About four million people worldwide have Parkinson's disease. Goudreau says that's expected to increase to more than 8 million by the year 2030.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Widow Gives $2.5 Million for Parkinson's Research
By SHELLY BANJO
Lily Safra wants to chart the course of Parkinson's disease in order to stop it.
The widow of the banker Edmond J. Safra is giving $2.5 million to the New York-based Michael J. Fox Foundation to help fund a clinical study to help track the progression of Parkinson's disease.
Bringing together pharmaceutical companies, nonprofits, scientists and private funders, Ms. Safra's lead gift will help form a public-private partnership to fund the five-year $40 million Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, which will use neuro-imaging, testing of biologic samples and behavioral assessments of 600 participants to identify so-called biomarkers of Parkinson's disease.
[DONOR_Hedcut]
Lily Safra
Biomarkers provide the tools to track and measure the progression of a disease, which Parkinson's researchers say is crucial to finding a cure for the disease and determining whether a therapy or drug is working.
Unlike other diseases, such as a cancer where doctors can track the size and spread of a tumor to tell if a certain therapy is working, it's more difficult to measure the progression of Parkinson's, a degenerative neurological disorder that impairs motor skills, speech and other movement.
"We need treatments that slow or stop progression of the disease, but without developing these markers we're not going to get there," says Katie Hood, the foundation's CEO. "This is the biggest impediment to finding a cure."
Ms. Hood says most researchers are currently creating therapies that treat only the symptoms of the disease, such as tremors or ease of motion, rather than attacking the underling course of the disease.
"If the industry came up with a treatment for this chronic neurodegenerative disease, it would be a massive blockbuster but no one wants to do it alone," she says. "Our board came to the discussion that if we want to find a cure for Parkinson's one day, we have no choice but to pursue this major roadblock."
For Mrs. Safra, one of the founding board members of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the initiative hits close to home: Her late husband, a banker who founded a private bank that he sold to American Express and the Republic National Bank of New York, had struggled with Parkinson's disease. Mr. Safra died in 1999 in a fire at the couple's Monaco home. Mr. Safra had given millions to museums, hospitals, medical research and Jewish causes—constructing or saving synagogues in Israel, Madrid and France as well as building hospitals in Brazil and Israel.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Safra took over the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation and vowed to uphold her husband's legacy.
"My husband had a visionary belief in the power of human ingenuity to conquer disease," Mrs. Safra says. "During his lifetime he was an open-handed supporter of medical research and patient care around the world. In his memory, it is my privilege to sponsor the initiative…in order to speed improved treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease."
Lily Safra wants to chart the course of Parkinson's disease in order to stop it.
The widow of the banker Edmond J. Safra is giving $2.5 million to the New York-based Michael J. Fox Foundation to help fund a clinical study to help track the progression of Parkinson's disease.
Bringing together pharmaceutical companies, nonprofits, scientists and private funders, Ms. Safra's lead gift will help form a public-private partnership to fund the five-year $40 million Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, which will use neuro-imaging, testing of biologic samples and behavioral assessments of 600 participants to identify so-called biomarkers of Parkinson's disease.
[DONOR_Hedcut]
Lily Safra
Biomarkers provide the tools to track and measure the progression of a disease, which Parkinson's researchers say is crucial to finding a cure for the disease and determining whether a therapy or drug is working.
Unlike other diseases, such as a cancer where doctors can track the size and spread of a tumor to tell if a certain therapy is working, it's more difficult to measure the progression of Parkinson's, a degenerative neurological disorder that impairs motor skills, speech and other movement.
"We need treatments that slow or stop progression of the disease, but without developing these markers we're not going to get there," says Katie Hood, the foundation's CEO. "This is the biggest impediment to finding a cure."
Ms. Hood says most researchers are currently creating therapies that treat only the symptoms of the disease, such as tremors or ease of motion, rather than attacking the underling course of the disease.
"If the industry came up with a treatment for this chronic neurodegenerative disease, it would be a massive blockbuster but no one wants to do it alone," she says. "Our board came to the discussion that if we want to find a cure for Parkinson's one day, we have no choice but to pursue this major roadblock."
For Mrs. Safra, one of the founding board members of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the initiative hits close to home: Her late husband, a banker who founded a private bank that he sold to American Express and the Republic National Bank of New York, had struggled with Parkinson's disease. Mr. Safra died in 1999 in a fire at the couple's Monaco home. Mr. Safra had given millions to museums, hospitals, medical research and Jewish causes—constructing or saving synagogues in Israel, Madrid and France as well as building hospitals in Brazil and Israel.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Safra took over the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation and vowed to uphold her husband's legacy.
"My husband had a visionary belief in the power of human ingenuity to conquer disease," Mrs. Safra says. "During his lifetime he was an open-handed supporter of medical research and patient care around the world. In his memory, it is my privilege to sponsor the initiative…in order to speed improved treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease."
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Parkinson's Patients More Likely To Stick With Certain 'Add-On' Drugs
Of the three main types of oral drugs commonly added to levodopa therapy for patients with advanced Parkinson's disease, one might be the most effective, according to a new review.
People with Parkinson's disease often initially experience tremors, stiffness, slowed movement or difficulty with balance and coordination. These symptoms result from the destruction of brain cells that produce dopamine an important chemical that transmits nerve impulses.
Many people with Parkinson's start treatment by taking levodopa, which the body converts to dopamine. After a time, however, levodopa alone is not always enough.
The three classes of drugs for add-on treatment are dopamine agonists, which stimulate dopamine receptors in the brain, drugs known as COMT inhibitors and MAOB inhibitors, which slow the breakdown of dopamine in the body.
Of these, dopamine agonists might be most effective, according to a new review.
The irony for patients and doctors alike is that while all of the add-on drugs help improve functional motor skills, they simultaneously might increase numerous other side effects such as dyskinesia, dizziness, sleep disturbances, nausea, constipation and even hallucinations.
Although the risk of side effects increased with all three types of add-on drugs, patients were most likely to continue treatment when they were taking dopamine agonists. This class includes medications such as pramipexole (Mirapex), ropinirole (Requip), cabergoline (Dostinex) and bromocriptine (Parlodel).
"There's a tendency to think that stronger drugs give more adverse effects, but we didn't find that with dopamine agonists," says review co-author Carl E. Clarke, M.D., a neurologist at the University of Birmingham in England. "They seem to be as well tolerated as the other classes, so the results are quite positive in terms of using the agonists ahead of the other two."
Parkinson's disease is a chronic, progressive disorder affecting more than 6 million people worldwide, making it the most common degenerative condition of the brain after Alzheimer's disease. Both illnesses are most common in the elderly, so with an aging U.S. population, their prevalence is likely to increase.
Ads by Google
Stem Cells for Parkinsons - New Stem Cell Treatments for patients with Parkinson's Disease. - www.stemcellsforhope.com
New Parkinson's Research - Discover an Exercise Bike Proven to Reduce PD Symptoms. Free DVD Today! - www.Theracycle.com
30% Off - Vitaline CoQ10 - The only clinically-proven, safe, all natural, high dose CoQ10! - EnzymaticTherapy.com/Vitaline
"No treatments have been proven to slow progression of the disease," said William J. Weiner, M.D., director of the Maryland Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "Yet with treatment to alleviate motor symptoms, most patients can function extremely well for six to 10 years."
Levodopa typically controls symptoms very well for up to five years, but eventually a patient's symptoms start to reappear each day before the next dose is due or symptoms might reappear and disappear unpredictably. Patients might also develop dyskinesia, which results in uncontrollable jerking and writhing movements.
Doctors can then add another medication to the levodopa therapy.
"The greater efficacy and reduced likelihood of patient withdrawal with dopamine agonist therapy possibly outweighs the disadvantage of increased side effects," concludes the review.
This finding matches Weiner's clinical experience gained from decades of treating people with the disease.
"Most [Parkinson's] patients prefer to have these dyskinesias and other moderate side effects than to have more disabling motor complications like being unable to walk," he says. "Hallucinations may be troublesome and frightening initially, but they are typically benign a patient might think he sees a dog and people can get used to them."
The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates research in all aspects of health care. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing trials on a topic.
This review assessed data from 44 randomized trials involving 8,436 participants. The authors caution, however, that the studies compared each class of drugs against placebo, rather than conducting "head-to-head" comparisons of each class against the others.
This leaves open the possibility that the findings arose not from actual differences in the treatments, but rather from other factors such as differences in the types of people included in the various trials. A large trial featuring direct comparisons of the three drug classes currently is underway in the United Kingdom, Clarke said.
Of the drugs in the COMT inhibitor class, the review suggests that tolcapone (Tasmar) is as effective as the dopamine agonists. However, tolcapone has been linked to a few cases of fatal liver toxicity and can now only be prescribed in the United States with intense monitoring.
"Tolcapone is worth using in patients where [the alternative] is not working well, and we mustn't discount it," Clarke said. "This evidence clearly states that."
The review disclosed that Clarke has received payments for consulting, lectures and travel from Boehringer-Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Lundbeck, Orion, Teva, UCB, and Valeant.
The Cochrane Library contains high quality health care information, including Systematic Reviews from The Cochrane Collaboration. These reviews bring together research on the effects of health care and are considered the gold standard for determining the relative effectiveness of different interventions. The Cochrane Collaboration is an international nonprofit, independent organization that produces and disseminates systematic reviews of health care interventions and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions.
Stowe R, et al. Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of adjuvant treatment to levodopa therapy in Parkinson´ s disease patients with motor complications (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 7.
People with Parkinson's disease often initially experience tremors, stiffness, slowed movement or difficulty with balance and coordination. These symptoms result from the destruction of brain cells that produce dopamine an important chemical that transmits nerve impulses.
Many people with Parkinson's start treatment by taking levodopa, which the body converts to dopamine. After a time, however, levodopa alone is not always enough.
The three classes of drugs for add-on treatment are dopamine agonists, which stimulate dopamine receptors in the brain, drugs known as COMT inhibitors and MAOB inhibitors, which slow the breakdown of dopamine in the body.
Of these, dopamine agonists might be most effective, according to a new review.
The irony for patients and doctors alike is that while all of the add-on drugs help improve functional motor skills, they simultaneously might increase numerous other side effects such as dyskinesia, dizziness, sleep disturbances, nausea, constipation and even hallucinations.
Although the risk of side effects increased with all three types of add-on drugs, patients were most likely to continue treatment when they were taking dopamine agonists. This class includes medications such as pramipexole (Mirapex), ropinirole (Requip), cabergoline (Dostinex) and bromocriptine (Parlodel).
"There's a tendency to think that stronger drugs give more adverse effects, but we didn't find that with dopamine agonists," says review co-author Carl E. Clarke, M.D., a neurologist at the University of Birmingham in England. "They seem to be as well tolerated as the other classes, so the results are quite positive in terms of using the agonists ahead of the other two."
Parkinson's disease is a chronic, progressive disorder affecting more than 6 million people worldwide, making it the most common degenerative condition of the brain after Alzheimer's disease. Both illnesses are most common in the elderly, so with an aging U.S. population, their prevalence is likely to increase.
Ads by Google
Stem Cells for Parkinsons - New Stem Cell Treatments for patients with Parkinson's Disease. - www.stemcellsforhope.com
New Parkinson's Research - Discover an Exercise Bike Proven to Reduce PD Symptoms. Free DVD Today! - www.Theracycle.com
30% Off - Vitaline CoQ10 - The only clinically-proven, safe, all natural, high dose CoQ10! - EnzymaticTherapy.com/Vitaline
"No treatments have been proven to slow progression of the disease," said William J. Weiner, M.D., director of the Maryland Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "Yet with treatment to alleviate motor symptoms, most patients can function extremely well for six to 10 years."
Levodopa typically controls symptoms very well for up to five years, but eventually a patient's symptoms start to reappear each day before the next dose is due or symptoms might reappear and disappear unpredictably. Patients might also develop dyskinesia, which results in uncontrollable jerking and writhing movements.
Doctors can then add another medication to the levodopa therapy.
"The greater efficacy and reduced likelihood of patient withdrawal with dopamine agonist therapy possibly outweighs the disadvantage of increased side effects," concludes the review.
This finding matches Weiner's clinical experience gained from decades of treating people with the disease.
"Most [Parkinson's] patients prefer to have these dyskinesias and other moderate side effects than to have more disabling motor complications like being unable to walk," he says. "Hallucinations may be troublesome and frightening initially, but they are typically benign a patient might think he sees a dog and people can get used to them."
The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates research in all aspects of health care. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing trials on a topic.
This review assessed data from 44 randomized trials involving 8,436 participants. The authors caution, however, that the studies compared each class of drugs against placebo, rather than conducting "head-to-head" comparisons of each class against the others.
This leaves open the possibility that the findings arose not from actual differences in the treatments, but rather from other factors such as differences in the types of people included in the various trials. A large trial featuring direct comparisons of the three drug classes currently is underway in the United Kingdom, Clarke said.
Of the drugs in the COMT inhibitor class, the review suggests that tolcapone (Tasmar) is as effective as the dopamine agonists. However, tolcapone has been linked to a few cases of fatal liver toxicity and can now only be prescribed in the United States with intense monitoring.
"Tolcapone is worth using in patients where [the alternative] is not working well, and we mustn't discount it," Clarke said. "This evidence clearly states that."
The review disclosed that Clarke has received payments for consulting, lectures and travel from Boehringer-Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Lundbeck, Orion, Teva, UCB, and Valeant.
The Cochrane Library contains high quality health care information, including Systematic Reviews from The Cochrane Collaboration. These reviews bring together research on the effects of health care and are considered the gold standard for determining the relative effectiveness of different interventions. The Cochrane Collaboration is an international nonprofit, independent organization that produces and disseminates systematic reviews of health care interventions and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions.
Stowe R, et al. Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of adjuvant treatment to levodopa therapy in Parkinson´ s disease patients with motor complications (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 7.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
