REVERSING BRAIN DAMAGE
Television News Service/Medical Breakthroughs
©Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc. May 1999
Approximately 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
each year. The disease is caused by loss of nerve cells in the brain.
Doctors may be able to replace those cells with healthy cells using a
patient's own supply.
Dennis Turner is a world traveler, former fighter pilot and deep sea
diver. It's no surprise, then, that this risk-taker agreed to be "first"
to try an experimental treatment that may cure him of Parkinson's
disease.
Dr. Michael Levesque of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles
removed cells from Dennis' brain. In the laboratory they multiplied into
millions of cells with a different function. These cells produce
dopamine, a chemical missing in Parkinson's patients that helps control
movement.
Last month doctors put the healthy cells back into Dennis' brain. Now
they are waiting to see if the cells can repair damaged brain tissue.
The procedure has already shown to work in stroke patients. Dennis says,
"The cells are slowly growing in, I think. I can't crawl in my brain. I
really don't know, but I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the
worst."
Dr. Levesque says if this works, the process could also reverse nerve
damage caused by epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease and spinal cord injuries.
"We can biopsy any patient, grow their cells in the lab, and then
engineer their cells for whatever disease they have so they can accept
this transplant without rejection," he says.
A brain scan will show if the cells are working. Until then, Dennis will
take his steady hand as a sign they are.
Doctors plan to test the treatment on stroke and spinal cord injuries
next. They say that will be more complicated because it involves more
than one type of cell.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Michel Levesque. M.D., Director
Neurofunctional Surgery Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
8631 W. Third St., Suite 215-E
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 659-7475
Copyright © 1999 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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