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Michel, my love, It seems we are two cynics in a pod. Add to that I am a PWP and you are an overworked, loving, caregiver to Barbara, who has a disease they are saying is not fatal, and yet she is indeed , dying of it. I'm sorry, but it makes me want to scream! I think one of the reasons they have never found a cure for PD is the misconception that PD is not a fatal disease. So they don't want to spend precious research monies on it. Generally, we do die of something else first, but the underlying cause is PD. I probably wasted a good 3 years of my life fighting my PD, denying it, praying each day when I opened the newspaper that a cure would be announced. The Mother Hen in me wants to spare my friends from the same fate! It takes too much energy to continually be battered on the "Sea of False Hope". Energy which could be better spent on learning to live today, and tomorrow ,and next week, next year. Then if a miracle happens, and they do find a cure, at least we'll be able to live with the damage PD has already caused to our bodies. In spite of everything, there is a lot of life left for PWP's, if they learn to accept it, and work with it instead of against it. It takes too much energy to fight what you can't change! All my love to you and Barbara. just me, cynical Marjorie,67/58/55 At 01:10 AM 10/28/2000 -0400, you wrote: >Marjorie, I still love you, but you are too cynical. All this is of course >too >late for us, but I wrote comments below. >Michel > >From: "Marjorie L. Moorefield" <[log in to unmask]> >To: <[log in to unmask]> >Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 9:38 AM >Subject: Re: NEWS: Nando: Gene therapy used to turn back clock on >Parkinson's > > > > I hate it when only specific parts of articles are picked and quoted. > > In my morning newspaper there is in the same previously quoted article, a > > statement which would certainly make me take it with a grain of salt. > Scientific papers that may be of interest to certain people are > often summarized and translated into common language so > that the world at large may understand it. > > > Since our PD is not chemically induced > That has not been established. > > > and since the brains of monkeys are not the same as humans, > Primates (humans, apes, monkeys, etc) have more than 98% > of their genes identical. > > > this make persons grasping for straws only hope for something > > which ,more than likely will never happen. I think this is cruel to > > publish such hopeful things to the public, and I think researchers > > only do it to try to get more research money. > Scientists tend to publish the results of their research when > possible if that does not reveal potential information that >might > have commercial value to competitors. The papers are usually > reviewed by peers before it is accepted for publication. > The publication or presentation of research is an important >tool > of the scientist and allows them to exchange ideas, and that > can often lead to new leads. The media seek out scientific > information that might be of interest to the world at large, >and > unfortunatly at times, that information may be misleading or >twisted. > > > > If all of the studies go smoothly, said Kordower, the gene therapy could >be > > ready for human testing in three to five years. > > I'll believe it when I see it. > > > > > > > > At 09:00 AM 10/27/2000 -0400, you wrote: > > >Gene therapy used to turn back clock on Parkinson's > > > > > >(October 27, 2000 12:01 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Researchers > > >at a Chicago medical center have successfully used gene therapy to >reverse > > >the damage of Parkinson's disease in the brains of aged monkeys, and to > > >stop the progression of the disease in its early stages in younger >animals. > > > > > >By inserting a gene that increases the production of the chemical nerve > > >transmitter dopamine directly into the animals' brains, scientists at > > >Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center and Lausanne University in > > >Switzerland were able to significantly reverse the cellular brain damage. > > > > > >Doctors now usually try to make up for the loss of dopamine with a drug > > >that helps the brain produce it, but the effect eventually wears off. >Some > > >success has been achieved by grafting fetal nerve tissue into brains of > > >Parkinson's patients, but this doesn't stop the loss of the original >cells. > > >The big hope lies in some way of stopping the loss of the critical > > >dopamine-producing cells before the disease advances too far. > > > > > >"The study suggests a new approach to forestall disease progression in > > >newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease patients," said Jeffrey Kordower, > > >director of the Research Center for Brain Repair at Rush and lead author >of > > >a report on the research published in the journal Science on Friday. > > > > > >Key to the treatment is a special virus, called lenti-GDNF, developed by > > >Swiss researchers, that can deliver the gene for glial-derived >neurotrophic > > >factor into the brains of the primates. > > > > > >Kordower said it is expected that clinical testing of the lenti viral > > >delivery system for GDNF on humans will begin in Switzerland and the >United > > >States in less than five years, depending on the outcome of a safety >review > > >by the Food and Drug Administration. > > > > > >Parkinson's is a slowly progressive disease that degenerates a small part > > >of the mid-brain called the substantia nigra, which causes production of > > >dopamine to slump. That chemical sends signals in the brain that allows > > >people to move smoothly. > > > > > >The disease can cause tremors, limb stiffness, balance and gait problems, > > >and contribute to dementia. Parkinson's affects nearly 1 million >Americans, > > >most of them over the age of 60, although some people develop the disease > > >much earlier. The cause of the disease is unknown, but thought to have >both > > >genetic and environmental factors. There is no known cure. > > > > > >In the study, researchers found that the GDNF gene not only boosted > > >dopamine production, but also the production of GDNF itself, a nutrient > > >that strengthens and protects the brain cells that die due to >Parkinson's. > > > > > >Two groups of monkeys were tested. The first group of eight monkeys, each > > >about 25 years old, all had brains that displayed cellular changes > > >associated with early Parkinson's - the cells are still intact, but have > > >either stopped making dopamine or are making very little. They got six > > >injections of the special delivery virus, lenti-GDNF. > > > > > >After three months of treatment, tests showed a dramatic increase in > > >dopamine production, similar to the levels found in the brains of young > > >monkeys. > > > > > >The second group consisted of 20 young adult monkeys with no symptoms. > > >These primates had been trained to perform a specific hand-reach task for >a > > >food reward. They were given a chemical that initiates Parkinson's-like > > >symptoms, then were retested, and then treated with lenti-GDNF. > > > > > >The animals showed great difficulty in performing the tasks after >receiving > > >the chemical. Following three months of treatment, their performance > > >returned to near-normal. Brain scans showed the treatment had completely > > >prevented degeneration of the monkeys' dopamine-producing system, with > > >brain cells and their fibers preserved. > > > > > > > > >By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service > > >Copyright 2000 Nando Media > > >Copyright 2000 Scripps Howard News Service > > > > > > >http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,500273007-500426081-5026660 >5 > > >2-0,00.html > > > > > >janet paterson > > >53 now / 44 dx cd / 43 onset cd / 41 dx pd / 37 onset pd > > >TEL: 613 256 8340 URL: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/ > > >EMAIL: [log in to unmask] SMAIL: PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 >Canada > >