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Brain chemical elevated in Parkinson's: study CHICAGO, Oct 02 (Reuters Health) - A newly identified brain chemical may someday allow physicians to diagnose and treat Parkinson's disease much earlier, according to a small preliminary study at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Drs. Yulin Deng and Ali M. Rajput said the chemical, ADTIQ, was highly concentrated in the brains of four Parkinson's patients who had died. Three patients without Parkinson's had much lower brain levels of ADTIQ. Based on this small sample, Rajput said ADTIQ could potentially serve as an early biological marker for Parkinson's--a disease for which there is currently no biological test. "If we can find a way to measure this substance in the blood, spinal fluid or urine, then we can diagnose Parkinson's disease early," Rajput said, adding that if the disease can be caught early, doctors and patients may be better able to manage it. Rajput told the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association that the build-up of ADTIQ in the brain of Parkinson's patients may be caused by an error in metabolism. ADTIQ may be a toxic byproduct of this error. Parkinson's disease, which afflicts about half a million Americans, is marked by the progressive death of nerve cells in certain areas of the brain. This creates a shortage of cells that produce the chemical dopamine, which helps control movement. These diminishing dopamine levels cause the typical symptoms of Parkinson's disease, which include muscle rigidity and tremor. Conventional drug treatment involves replacing the lost dopamine, but this does not replace patients' lost nerve cells or stop the progression of Parkinson's. SOURCE: Reuters Health Information http://www.reutershealth.com/frame2/arch.html * * * [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn