Both celebrex and vioxx are non-steroidal anti-inflammtory drugs (NSAIDs).
Both are kjnwon to help PD patients by reducing inflammation-induced damage
to neurons.
I am currentkly taking celebrex 200 mg / day to keep my pain under
control. Celebrx inhibits COX2 enzyme, which is required for the
progression of PD symptoms. Vioxx probably acts in a similar way, but vioxx
is not good if you have hypertension. Besides, Vioxx is invlved in some
controversy at present. That is why I am sticking with celebrex, unil I
find some better alternative.
Raj
**********
----- Original Message -----
From: "Caryle" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 8:14 PM
Subject: Celebrex & Parkinson's
> Does anyone have any info on this?
>
> Can Celebrex and Vioxx Treat Parkinson's?
>
> Blocking a key enzyme might help slow the progression of the disease
>
> By Jennifer Thomas
> HealthDayNews Reporter
>
> TUESDAY, April 8 (HealthDayNews) -- Researchers have identified a brain
enzyme that might contribute to the progression of Parkinson's disease.
> The good news is that arthritis drugs already on the market can block the
activity of the enzyme, which means the finding could lead relatively
quickly to a new Parkinson's treatment.
>
> "As a clinician, I find the results very exciting," says Dr. Jay Van
Gerpen, a neurologist and specialist in movement disorders at the Ochsner
Clinic Foundation who was not involved with the research. "I am cautiously
optimistic this could open up real treatment options in staving off the
progression of Parkinson's disease."
>
> The study appears in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
>
> Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the brain that affects
about 1 percent of Americans over age 65. Symptoms include tremors, slowness
of movement and muscle stiffness to the point of paralysis.
>
> The cause of Parkinson's is not known. However, doctors do know
Parkinson's results in a gradual destruction of the neurons that transmit
the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is important in regulating movement.
>
> Certain drugs, including levodopa, can reduce symptoms of Parkinson's
disease by restoring dopamine levels. But no treatment has been proven to
slow the progressive cell death, Van Gerpen says. As the cells continue to
die, levodopa loses its effectiveness.
>
> "Lots of people have been looking for something that could actually slow
the progression of the cell death," he says.
>
> In the current study, researchers may be getting closer.
>
> Researchers went looking for a particular enzyme, cyclooxygenase-2
(cox-2), in the brains of post-mortem Parkinson's patients and mice with a
disease similar to Parkinson's.
>
> Cox-2 is known to play a role in triggering the inflammation of
osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis can be effective treated with a relatively
new class of drugs called cox-2 inhibitors, which help reduce the pain and
swelling. These drugs include Celebrex and Vioxx, which are prescribed to
people who can't tolerate aspirin or other painkillers.
>
> Previous research had also implicated cox-2 in other neurodegenerative
diseases, including Alzheimer's and amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or
Lou Gehrig's disease), although the role in those diseases is not as well
understood.
>
> "Because we knew of the cox-2 inhibitors' effectiveness in treating other
diseases where inflammation was a factor, and because we knew that cox-2
could somehow be involved in these other neurodegenerative diseases, we put
two and two together," says Serge Przedborski, senior author of the study
and a professor of neurobiology and pathology at Columbia University. "We
thought it was a natural study to assess what could be the role of cox-2 in
Parkinson's."
> Researchers found elevated levels of cox-2 in human brains with
Parkinson's, and in mice brains with a MPTP, a condition that mimics
Parkinson's.
>
> Next, researchers gave the mice cox-2 inhibitors. They found more
dopaminergic neurons survived -- about 88 percent of the neurons endured
while on the drug, compared to 41 percent without the drug.
>
> But Przedborski and his colleagues were surprised when they delved further
into the mechanism. They'd expected to find that cox-2 was involved with
inflammation in the Parkinson's patients.
>
> But when the mice were give cox-2 inhibitors, they saw no reduction in
inflammation.
>
> Instead, researchers believe the cox-2 enzyme may hasten cell death by
causing oxidative stress, a process that causes the production of free
radicals that damage surrounding cells. After enough damage, the cells die.
>
> Previous researchers had linked Parkinson's with oxidative stress.
>
> "There is a large body of literature supporting the idea that oxidative
stress plays a role in Parkinson's, but there was nothing that showed the
mechanism," Przedborski says. "Cox-2 may be involved."
>
> The next step will be trying the cox-2 inhibitors in human trials with
Parkinson's patients.
>
> "We can argue about the intimate mechanism, but that is an issue for
researchers rather than patients," he says. "The beauty of the study is that
many cox-2 inhibitors are already on the market. They have a track record;
they are known to be reasonably safe."
>
> While the cox-2 inhibitors seem very promising, Przedborski said it will
not be a cure.
>
> "We've started to realize that the death of neurons is probably not the
result of a single factor, but probably of multiple factors that interact
with each other to ultimately kill the cell," he says.
> More information
>
> To read more about Parkinson's disease, visit the Parkinsons Disease
Foundation (www.pdf.org) or the National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke (www.nlm.nih.gov).
>
>
>
>
>
> SOURCES: Serge Przedborski, Ph.D., professor, neurobiology and pathology,
Columbia University, New York City; Jay Van Gerpen, M.D., neurologist,
Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans; April 7-11, 2003, Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences
>
> Copyright © 2003 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
>
>
>
>
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