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was wondering if anyone knew how to obtain a copy of the book..."voices from the parking lot...", regarding PD. ----- Original Message ----- shirley from maine From: "Gail Vass" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 11:18 AM Subject: Test for early Parkinson's > Test for early Parkinson's > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3131211.stm > > Brain scientists believe they may have found a way to detect the earliest signs that > a patient is developing Parkinson's disease. > > They hope that finding will help identify targets for future drugs to tackle the > cause of the disease. > > The research, carried out at Imperial College London, centres around a type of > immune cell called a microglial cell. > > These are part of the body's method of fighting off infections within the brain and > central nervous system. > > When activated, they cause inflammation, which scientists already believe is linked > to the cell death which causes Parkinson's. > > Scientists are trying to find out whether the cells are the underlying cause of > Parkinson's, or simply accelerate the disease. > > Radioactive injection > > Researchers think that if they could measure the level of activation of microglial > cells, they could both confirm that they are causing a problem - and perhaps in > future use it as a test to confirm the presence of the disease in patients with the > most subtle symptoms. > > By detecting it in the early stages of the disease we hope to be able to give > patients suitable treatments that will delay its development Professor David Brooks, > Imperial College > > The Imperial team engineered a mildly radioactive chemical called a "tracer", which > has the ability to bind to active and inflamed microglial cells. > > They injected this into the brain of 60 patients already showing the outward signs > of early Parkinsonism. > > They progress of the tracer was then monitored using a brain scanner. > > Their results confirmed that it was possible to track microglial cell activity in > this way, and the trial is now being extended so that the same patients can be > scanned again to see if the changing scans correllate with changing physical symptoms. > > Detecting the disease before symptoms appear would be impractical, however - it > would involve carrying out highly expensive scans on hundreds of thousands of people. > > Step forward > > Parkinson's Disease is caused by the death of cells in the brain which produce the > chemical dopamine. > > This chemical helps the brain produce smooth muscular movements, and its absence can > lead to gradually worsening tremor in the hands and arms, stiffness and slow movement. > > Drug treatments can alleviate these symptoms, but there is currently no cure. > > Professor David Brooks, who led the research, said: "We are very pleased with our results. > > "Inflammation in the brain may be causing this already debilitating condition to > worsen at a quicker rate than it would otherwise. > > "By detecting it in the early stages of the disease we hope to be able to give > patients suitable treatments that will delay its development. > > "We hope that it would even allow some of the damaged cells to produce the much > needed dopamine again - which would really help the patient." > > Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3131211.stm > > Published: 2003/08/07 10:48:01 GMT > > © BBC MMIII > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn