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Vitamin-like drug fights Parkinson's By Charles Q. Choi UPI Science News From the Science & Technology Desk Published 10/14/2002 4:05 PM NEW YORK, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Results of a new national clinical trial, released Monday, show a vitamin-like chemical may be the first treatment that can fight the relentless degeneration caused by Parkinson's disease. Patients who took a substance known as coenzyme Q10, which is found in the brain, performed 44 percent better on exams for Parkinson's disease symptoms for intellectual and physical function than study volunteers who did not receive Q10. "The results absolutely need to be extended and confirmed, but they are definitely encouraging enough to warrant a larger trial," lead researcher Clifford Shults, a neurologist the University of California in San Diego, told United Press International. Although high doses of Q10 proved safe for volunteers in the study, Shults cautioned patients against buying Q10 in stores. "This is a preliminary study that needs to be confirmed in larger populations before I can recommend people spend $1,500 to $2,500 a year on something that isn't proven to work," he explained. Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder that afflicts more than 1 million Americans with muscle stiffness, trembling, slowed movement and poor balance. It appears to kill nerve cells in a brain region known as the substantia nigra, which produces dopamine, a biochemical key in physical movement. Shults and his team found Parkinson's patients are low in Q10. The biochemical is made naturally in the body and is a coenzyme, aiding in metabolic processes as do vitamins. In particular, Q10 helps the cellular machinery known as mitochondria shuffle electrons around. Mitochondria help the body release the large amounts of cellular energy it needs to survive. The investigators studied 80 volunteers at 10 medical centers across the nation, and over the course of 16 months randomly gave patients four daily doses of wafers containing either zero, 300, 600 or 1,200 milligrams of Q10. Eight months into the study patients receiving the highest doses of Q10 already fared significantly better symptom wise than did other volunteers. Lower doses also slowed the progression of Parkinson's, though much less effectively. Shults emphasized the disease "never stopped progressing," still the more Q10 a patient received, the slower the progression. In comparison, existing treatments for Parkinson's disease, such as the drug levodopa, decrease in effectiveness over time. In the future, researchers wish to see whether Q10 actually prevents damage to nerve cells in a larger study with hundreds of patients, perhaps with even larger doses of the drug. "A study with a large population of patients is certainly warranted, given the very promising results already achieved," said movement disorders neurologist David Eidelberg of North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. "This represents a uniquely promising opportunity to develop a neuroprotective treatment in people who are just beginning to develop Parkinson's disease." The scientists presented their findings at the American Neurological Association's annual meeting. The research also will appear in the Oct. 15 issue of the Archives of Neurology. SOURCE: UPI - United Press International http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021013-085046-6912r * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn