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New frontiers in Parkinson's disease research Wednesday 15 November 2006 University of Newcastle researchers are exploring new frontiers to develop better treatments for Parkinson's disease, a condition affecting around 100,000 Australians.* Many movement problems in Parkinson's disease are caused by a lack of dopamine, a molecule produced by two groups of cells in the brain. One group is found in the brainstem and dies in people who develop Parkinson's, while the other group does not die. Dr Phillip Dickson and his team are looking at the two groups of cells and trying to understand why one group degenerates and the other does not. "We want to know the differences between the two groups so that we can develop treatments that prevent the cells dying in the first place," Dr Dickson said. "There are essentially three ways to address the death of the dopamine-producing cells. Firstly, drugs can be used to increase the dopamine production from the remaining cells. This becomes less effective over time as more cells are lost. "Secondly, we can try to replace the lost nerve cells, but studies have shown very little benefit. "Thirdly, we can develop new treatments to stop the cells dying. But to do that, we first need to understand why those particular cells die in Parkinson's disease. That's what we're concentrating on." Dr Dickson's team has been awarded more than $300,000 over three years from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to conduct the research through the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI). The research was started last year by a $10,000 grant from HMRI through the Adamstown Lions Club. "Parkinson's disease is close to the heart of our members. We are thrilled that, by directing proceeds from our Adamstown Markets to HMRI, we have backed a winning project," said Adamstown Lions Club President Carole Powell. Dr Dickson is a member of the University's Priority Research Centre (PRC) for Bioinformatics, Biomarker Discovery and Information-Based Medicine, and the PRC for Brain and Mental Health Research. *www.parkinsons.org.au For interviews: Dr Phil Dickson on 02 4921 7031; Carole Powell via Lauren Eyles, HMRI Communication Officer, on 02 4921 4841. Media contact: Katie Porritt, Media and Public Relations Coordinator, the University of Newcastle, on 02 4921 5120 or 0418 445 888. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn