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Parkinson's treatment breakthrough May 25, 2006 New Zealand is at the cutting edge of what could be a breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Patients here will be the first in the world to take part in clinical trials of a locally developed drug aimed at treating the disease, not just its symptoms. Noel Noonan lives on a cocktail of drugs. "This is a new one that's meant to help quite a bit," he says. He has lived with muscle stiffness and slowness from Parkinson's for 12 years. "In some ways I want to retain my independence, but I have to chop it back and accept help from others, which is frustrating and demeaning too." Eight hundred New Zealanders are newly-diagnosed with Parkinson's each year. Many like Bill Griffiths suffer from constant tremors. Current drugs only treat the symptoms and lose their effectiveness over time. But two Otago University scientists may have cracked the code for halting the disease's progression. Professor Robin Smith and Dr Michael Murphy, who are now working at Britain's Cambridge University, developed a compound called Mito Q eight years ago. Now it has been approved for stage two human trials. It is hoped Mito Q will be the first drug to specifically target brain cell damage caused by oxidants which attack the mitochondria - the nerve cells energy source. Lab trials have shown the drug shuts these oxidants down, which potentially prevents further damage. "What we've found is the chemical we've made is a very effective antioxidant - a very targeted effective antioxidant which we hope if we load into people with the early stages of Parkinson's, the rate of decay will be much slower," Smith says. One hundred and twenty New Zealand patients with early stage Parkinson's will be the first trialled. "I don't want people going away thinking we have a cure but in the last few years there's been an understanding of what goes on to cause this breakdown of cells in Parkinson's, and this drug should target that mechanism and if it does this will be a major transformation," Auckland neurologist Barry Snow says. The research has been backed by $23 million of venture capital, as well as nearly $2 million from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. "We have to contain our expectations but we are quite hopeful," Dr Snow says. The trial results will be out in 18 months. It is hoped if Mito Q works it has the potential to help other diseases which attack the brain the same way, like Alzheimer's, Motor Neurone and Huntingdon's disease. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn