Joe.....thx for all the postings you do on the latest pd info....have
learned a great deal from them without having to read the whole article
unless I want to .....you bring into focus  up to date items that I would
not think to search for..... Joan Hartman



> [Original Message]
> From: J. R. Bruman <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 10/5/00 9:14:59 AM
> Subject: CSR OCT 00
>
> CURRENT SCIENCE REVIEWS  By Joe Bruman  October 2000  Page 1 of 3
>
> Lane R:J Neur N'surg Psych 2000;69:289:
> After 6 years of near-zero mention in professional literature
> about PD, but ample discussion among patients, we now learn that
> "chronic fatigue is a very common complication of... diseases
> such as ... Parkinson's disease" (editorial comment on Chronic
> Fatigue Syndrome paper, pp 302-307). Well, well.
>
> Schrag A et al:J Neur N'surg Psych 2000;69:308-312:
> By questionnaire to subjects of a population-based study of PD
> prevalence, authors found that the factors most commonly
> affecting quality of life in PD are depression, postural
> instability, and cognitive impairment.
>
> Soliveri P et al;J Neur N'surg Psych 2000;69:313-318:
> They applied a battery of cognition tests and motor scales to
> about 5 dozen patients having either PD, Striatonigral
> Degeneration (SND), or Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP),
> on two occasions averaging 21 months apart, to detect and
> compare rates of progression.
>
> Benke Th et al;J Neur N'surg Psych 2000;69:319-325:
> A preliminary study in 53 PD patients of repetitive speech
> phenomena, both hyperfluent and disfluent, in PD at different
> stages of disease progression.
>
> Rettig G et al;J Neur N'surg Psych 2000;69:326-336:
> In the largest long term followup to date, in 42 PD recipients
> of unilateral pallidotomy, examined as long as one year after
> surgery, cognitive impairment was minimal compared  with the
> robust improvements in motor function.
>
> Pal P et al;;J Neur N'surg Psych 2000;69:337-344:
> In examination 3 years later of 15 unilateral pallidotomy
> recipients with PD, control of dyskinesias and tremor persisted,
> but all other early benefits were lost, and activities of daily
> living continued to worsen.
>
> Haberler C et al;Ann Neur 2000;48:372-376:
> Postmortem study of 8 PD patients who had deep brain stimulation
> (DBS) for as long as 70 months showed no damage to adjacent tissue
> by chronic DBS.
>
> Lancet, 26 August 2000, 693(editorial):
> Laboratory study of stem cells offers the most promising pathway
> to a means of preventing or curing PD, but some people think all
> or part of such study is immoral, and have organized opposition.
> The status of this ethical/scientific/political battle varies
> widely among different nations, but Lancet thinks a recent UK
> report on stem cells may hasten its resolution.
>
> CURRENT SCIENCE REVIEWS  By Joe Bruman  October 2000  Page 2 of 3
>
> Lancet, 9 September 2000, 917(news item):
> In a PET study of orthostatic hypotension, researchers found that
> all the PD subjects studied had lost norepinephrine-producing
> neurons in the heart. While it's known that PD affects peripheral
> autonomic functions (notably bowel motion) controlled outside the
> cns, this is (I think) the first positive evidence that a neuro-
> transmitter other than dopamine is involved in PD.
>
> Onodera H et al;Lancet, 26 August 2000, 739-740:
> In test of chemosensitivity to hypoxia in 25 PD patients and 11
> controls, even in early stages of PD the former had subnormal
> hypoxic response accompanied by blunted perception of dyspnoea,
> that might account for the unusual frequency of respiratory
> failure in PD.
>
> Science News, 2 September 2000:148(news item):
> Status in the U.S. of the stem cell controversy (see above).
>
> Pahapill P, Lozano A;Brain 2000;123:1767-1783: (review article)
> In PD, significant loss of neurons in the pedunculopontine*
> nucleus suggests that area as the source of akinesia and gait
> disturbance in PD, which might be a promising site for potential
> future therapy. *[The peduncle is a stalk which connects the
> cerebellum to the midbrain at the pons. JB]
>
> Hadjikoutis S et al;Brain 2000;123:1863-1873:
> Since the pharynx passage is common to both swallowing and
> breathing, it's possible to aspirate material into the airway.
> To avoid that, swallowing normally is followed by exhalation.
> Patients having various neurological diseases may inhale, more
> often than healthy subjects, after swallowing, but authors
> couldn't find any association with the frequency of subsequent
> choking or coughing episodes.
>
> Kulisevsky J et al;Mov Disord 2000;15:613-626:
> They studied a group of new PD patients for up to 24 months to
> compare the effects on cognition of levodopa versus pergolide
> (Permax), but found no big difference.
>
> Leiguardia R et al;Mov Disord 2000;15:627-640:
> Disruption of spatial organization and interjoint coordination
> in Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, and
> multiple system atrophy, study by computergraphic analysis.
>
> Homann C et al;Mov Disord 2000;15:641-647:
> The Bradykinesia Akinesia Incoordination Test (BRAIN TEST),  an
> objective and user-friendly means to evaluate patients with
> parkinsonism, by finger-tapping performance.
>
> Hauser R et al;Mov Disord 2000;15:658-663:
> Evidently responding to reports (CSR JUL 99) of blackout-related
> automobile accidents, they studied a lot of pramipexole (Mirapex)
> users and came up with advice not to drive if sleepy.
>
>
> CURRENT SCIENCE REVIEWS  By Joe Bruman  October 2000  Page 3 of 3
>
> Shulman L et al; Mov Disord 2000;15:664-668:
> An extensive chart study, to test the common opinion that
> dopamine receptor agonists have too many bad side effects for use
> in treating very elderly PD patients, showed that they were well
> tolerated by nearly half of the subjects.
>
> Shiba M et al;Mov Disord 2000;15:669-677
> A records study of PD patients and controls suggests that anxiety
> disorders are associated with PD, and may appear as long as 20
> years before PD's motor symptoms.
>
> Ondo W et al;Mov Disord 2000;15:678-682:
> Open-label tests suggested that gabapentin (Neurontin) is helpful
> against essential tremor (ET), but a multiple-dose, double-blind,
> placebo-controlled trial failed to confirm that.
>
> Hurtado J et al;Mov Disord 2000;15:683-691:
> Analysis of temporal correlation between tremor of different
> muscles of the same and different limbs in 4 PD patients.
>
> Benamer H et al;Mov Disord 2000;15:692-698:
> Correlation of PD severity and duration with striatal dopamine
> uptake, as observed by Single-Photon-Emission Coomputed
> Tomography (SPECT) using the marker 123I-FP.
>
> Maraganore D et al;Mov Disord 2000;15:714-719:
> A case-control study of several mutant genes for possible
> association with PD turned up the M3 allele of the liver-
> detoxifying enzyme N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) as a
> likely prospect.
>
>
> --
> J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694
> 3527 Cody Road
> Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013



--- Joan Hartman
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