 |
 |
Implanted eye cells eased Parkinson's By Andrew Stern, Reuters | December 19, 2005 CHICAGO -- A handful of people with Parkinson's disease showed marked improvement after surgeons implanted in their brains chemical-producing cells taken from the eye of a dead donor, researchers said last week. Cells from the inner, or pigment, layer of the eye's retina make levodopa, which Parkinson's patients commonly take in pill form to replace lost production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine allows the brain to control the body's movements. For most patients, levodopa pills lose their effectiveness within five years, and larger and larger doses are needed to curb the involuntary movements and shaking symptomatic of the disease. Many people on the drug develop involuntary writhing or dance-like movements. The retina cells were cultivated and implanted in the brains of six patients with advanced Parkinson's, researcher Natividad Stover of the University of Alabama said. One year later, the patients scored 48 percent higher on tests of movement and coordination, and the improvement was sustained after two years, Stover wrote in the journal Archives of Neurology. ''The implants were well tolerated," the report said. Improvement was also observed in daily living and quality of life. Parkinson's is a degenerative disease in which key brain cells that produce dopamine die ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn