I did notice the date as I try to - don't know how we missed this one in 
Sept.  I do think my PD has not progressed much since my 2003 DBSs, with the 
exception of my voice which I had trouble with a  few months after but my 
neuro says it is due to the DBS.

Ray

Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
[log in to unmask]

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Kathleen Cochran" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 4:13 AM
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: DBS halts PD progression

> Note that it is dated September of 2008...
>
> Kathleen
>
>
>
> 2009/4/27 rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]>
>
>> This is a bit of good news:
>>
>> Deep Brain Stimulation Halts Cell Loss, Parkinson's Researchers Find
>>
>> ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2008) - Deep brain stimulation, a surgical 
>> technique
>> often viewed as a last resort for people with Parkinson's disease, halts 
>> the
>> progression of dopamine-cell loss in animal models, according to 
>> preliminary
>> research by scientists at the Neuroscience Institute at the University of
>> Cincinnati (UC) and University Hospital.
>>
>> The scientists also discovered clues to why the technique works. The act 
>> of
>> stimulating neurons with electrodes boosted the amount of an important
>> protein in animals' brains. The protein, a trophic factor known as BDNF
>> (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), is a nurturing, growth-promoting
>> chemical.
>>
>> Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder involving the
>> death of dopamine-producing brain cells, or neurons.
>>
>> "Demonstrating that deep brain stimulation halts the progression of
>> dopamine-cell loss was basically a confirmation and extension of previous
>> findings," says Caryl Sortwell, PhD, associate professor of neurology at 
>> UC
>> and the study's lead investigator. "But finding the mechanism is a novel
>> discovery that is even more critical. We now know not only that it works, 
>> we
>> also are beginning to understand how it is working."
>> Sortwell recently announced her team's results at a professional 
>> conference
>> held by the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institute of Neurological
>> Disorders and Stroke.
>>
>> The research holds important implications for patients with Parkinson's
>> disease and could alter the current recommended timetable for surgical
>> intervention.
>>
>> In a typical treatment scenario, a patient has lost about 50 percent of 
>> his
>> or her dopamine-producing neurons when symptoms first appear and a 
>> diagnosis
>> is made. The typical patient then waits an average of 14 additional years
>> before undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery. During that 14-year 
>> span,
>> medications can offer symptomatic relief, but cell loss continues 
>> unabated.
>> There is at present no cure for the disease.
>>
>> Sortwell's research was a response to an observation by physicians,
>> including co-investigator George Mandybur, M.D., associate professor of
>> neurosurgery, who have long been able to neutralize, in certain patients,
>> some of the most debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including
>> tremor, stiffness, and slowness, by stimulating an area deep within the
>> brain.
>>
>> "The surgery for Parkinson's disease has been available for over 10 
>> years,
>> and in that time we have noticed that in some patients the disease does 
>> not
>> seem to progress as rapidly after surgery as it did before the surgery,"
>> says Mandybur, a neurosurgeon with the Mayfield Clinic. As a result, he 
>> and
>> others theorized that DBS not only alleviated symptoms, but also provided
>> neuroprotection.
>>
>> The UC study, Mandybur says, "helps us to understand why this is going on
>> and what may be happening in the brain. It also gives some evidence to
>> support performing the surgery earlier to slow the overall progression of
>> Parkinson's disease."
>>
>> Sortwell's study, which is continuing, is supported by a $120,000 grant
>> from the Sunflower Revolution fundraiser, a partnership of the University
>> Hospital Foundation and the Davis Phinney Foundation. The 2008 Sunflower
>> Revolution, scheduled for Sept. 5-7, includes a gala, a free educational
>> symposium for patients, families and caregivers, and bike rides of 20, 
>> 40,
>> and 100 kilometers. (See http://www.sunflowerrev.org.)
>>
>> During the DBS study, researchers implanted high-frequency stimulating
>> electrodes in the subthalamic nucleus, an area of the brain associated 
>> with
>> movement, in rats and then induced dopamine neuron loss. When the rats 
>> had
>> experienced a 50 percent loss of dopamine neurons, the researchers 
>> initiated
>> brain stimulation in half of the group. Measurements of surviving,
>> functioning dopamine neurons in rats implanted with active stimulators 
>> were
>> then compared to a control group implanted with inactive stimulators. 
>> While
>> the control group's loss of dopamine neurons increased to 75 percent 
>> after
>> two weeks, the rats implanted with active stimulators experienced no 
>> further
>> loss of cells during that time.
>>
>> Subsequent tissue analysis revealed that in rats implanted with active
>> stimulators the trophic factor BDNF had tripled in the striatum, a part 
>> of
>> the brain that houses dopamine terminals and "receives" the dopamine
>> neurotransmitters that are produced in the substantia nigra.
>>
>> The study has brought together investigators from four academic
>> disciplines: Sortwell, and Timothy Collier, PhD., and doctoral student 
>> Anne
>> Spieles-Engemann, from UC's department of neurology; Michael Behbehani, 
>> PhD,
>> from the department of physiology; Jack Lipton, PhD, from the department 
>> of
>> psychiatry; and Mandybur, from the department of neurosurgery. Michael
>> Behbehani, PhD, professor of molecular and cellular physiology and
>> anesthesia, established the method for implanting the electrodes in the
>> rat's tiny subthalamic nucleus.
>>
>> The initial study platform was funded by UC's Millennium Fund and
>> subsequently by the Neuroscience Institute.
>>
>> Adapted from materials provided by University of Cincinnati.
>>
>> Rayilyn Brown
>> Director AZNPF
>> Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
>> [log in to unmask]
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