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The Peoria Journal Star, IL New therapy offers Parkinson's relief June 29, 2003 PEORIA - Inflammation may play a role in the progression of Parkinson's disease, linking it to other brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. But a new therapy - deep brain stimulation - offers relief from Parkinson's symptoms, researchers said at a seminar Saturday. "So what is Parkinson's disease? We don't know what causes it," said Paul Carvey, professor of neurological sciences and pharmacology at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. Carvey is researching the causes, however, and may have found some. He spoke to more than 50 people at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. The medical seminar was part of the "Shake, Rattle & Roll" fund-raiser weekend for Parkinson's, which includes a walk at noon today along the city's riverfront followed by speakers and a jazz concert. Carvey and Dr. Michael Rezak, of Glenbrook and Evanston hospitals where deep brain stimulation is taking place, offered new hope for Parkinson's sufferers, including many in the audience. "In the next four or five years, we will make significant advances in understanding the role of inflammation in the progressive nature of the disease," Carvey said. "If you can treat inflammation or neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease, you can apply that to Alzheimer's and ALS," he said. If people with a risk for Parkinson's can be identified before symptoms occur and the disease's progression is stopped, "this is a cure," he said. Carvey has shown that offspring from a pregnant rat with a common bacterial infection that affects 11 percent of all human pregnancies are born with lower than normal numbers of dopamine cells in the brain. They can function but are at risk for Parkinson's. When those rats are exposed to very low levels of common pesticides, including the "natural" pesticide rotenone, they lose more brain cells and develop symptoms of Parkinson's. The incidence is higher in male rats, as it is in humans, he said. The infection and pesticides trigger inflammation, he said, then "ongoing, progressive inflammation leads to more dopamine loss." Common medications such as ibuprofen-type drugs can control inflammation, offering a new way to stop the progressive decline of brain cells, he said. Rezak, a physician and former Bradley University graduate student, described deep brain stimulation, recently approved for Medicare patients. A device with four electrodes is implanted in the brain in a precise location affecting the uncontrolled movement that characterizes Parkinson's disease. Electrical impulses go to the site, controlling the movements. The $100,000 surgery is suitable for patients for whom drugs have stopped working, he said. The device can be removed if a true cure is found. The surgery is not yet available in Peoria, said Dr. Jai Kumar, clinical associate professor of neurology at the medical college. Rezak's patient, Ralph Herbest, who lives in the Chicago area, said he had the surgery only two weeks ago. "I feel like going golfing," he said. Pat Flaherty, 65, of Peoria, a retired minister, said he received the procedure nearly two years ago in Kansas City after suffering from Parkinson's for 18 years. "Without this I would be in bed somewhere on medication," he said. Perry Cohen of Washington, D.C., a Parkinson's sufferer who is director of the Parkinson Pipeline Project to expedite medical discoveries to patients, is a patient representative to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and served on the panel that approved the deep brain stimulation surgery. The seminar was impressive, he said, especially the information on inflammation. "I was particularly impressed with Carvey's research. It's a fresh approach, very thorough and promising." Carol Walton, executive director of The Parkinson's Alliance of Princeton, New Jersey, said funding for research is critical. The National Institutes for Health has been allotted only a 2.5 percent increase in the next federal budget, she said. "We want 10 percent. You can't lay off people and stop these programs." She urged the audience to call members of Congress. SOURCE: The Peoria Journal Star, IL http://www.pjstar.com/news/local/g40046a.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn