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I sure hope drugs would do the trick.  I don't see how brain surgery can
ever be a "routine" treatment.
----- Original Message -----
From: "M.Schild" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 12:22 AM
Subject: neurogenesis?


> http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=354779&sid=ENV&ssid=28
>
> Alzheimer`s cure `may only be 5 yrs away`
>   London, Feb 17: Brain diseases such as Alzheimer`s and Parkinson`s could
> be
> cured with drugs in as little as five years` time, according to
> scientists.
>
> A study published today proves for the first time that a region of the
> brain
> contains stem cells, which have the ability to act as a repair system for
> the
> body.
>
> As diseases such as Alzheimer`s speed up the process by which brain cells
> die, scientists say that drugs could be developed which would stimulate
> stem
> cells to replace them, reports the Daily Mail.
>
> This would mean that the body could be `tricked` into repairing itself -
> reversing the damage caused to cells by a degenerative disease.
>
> Professor Peter Eriksson, a neurobiologist at Sweden`s University of
> Gothenburg, said: `I think this discovery will open up totally new avenues
> of
> treatments for Alzheimer`s and Parkinson`s.
>
> `It may be possible to develop a drug to trick the brain into replacing
> cells.
>
> `It could also help patients who have suffered a stroke, as well as people
> with Huntingdon`s Disease and schizophrenia.`
>
> He added that the drugs could be developed
>
> A spokesman for the Alzheimer`s Society echoed his enthusiasm, saying:
> `This
> study raises the potential to treat damaged tissues and repair brain
> damage
> from neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer`s disease.
>
> `For the first time, this study demonstrates that stem cells are routinely
> involved in replenishing nerve cells in at least one part of the adult
> human
> brain.
>
> `This process raises exciting new questions for the treatment of
> Alzheimer`s
> disease, such as whether stem cells could be stimulated into action when
> the
> brain has been injured.
>
> `These findings are the first step to unlocking potentially exciting new
> treatments.`
>
> The study, published in Science magazine, was also welcomed yesterday by
> British scientists.
>
> Dr Mark Baxter, Wellcome Trust senior research fellow at Oxford
> University,
> said: `This study is exciting because it reveals a group of brain cells in
> the adult human brain that are continuously regenerating.
>
> `Animal studies have pointed to the existence of such groups of cells, but
> it
> has been difficult to determine whether they exist in the human brain as
> well.
>
> `This opens another direction by which we may discover ways to repair
> human
> brains that are damaged from injury or diseases.`
>
> Scientists used to believe that the brain stopped producing new cells
> after
> the teenage years, when the body stopped growing.
>
> It had been known for some years that some other mammals retained the
> ability
> to generate certain nerve cells well into adulthood.
>
> Evidence that the phenomenon occurred in humans has been elusive but
> scientists in New Zealand and Sweden have now demonstrated it for the
> first
> time.
>
> They used brain scanners on corpses to pinpoint the path that new cells
> take
> as they emerge from the centre of the brain to the region linked to the
> sense
> of smell.
>
> Professor Eriksson said: `There has been a long controversy about whether
> this structure exists in the human brain.
>
> `It has been shown in rats and mice that these stem cells are essential
> for
> repair mechanisms to take place after a stroke.`
>
> One of the main features of diseases such as Alzheimer`s is that brain
> cells
> begin to die more quickly.
>
> The finding raises the possibility that scientists could isolate a
> chemical
> compound to prompt stem cells in the brain to produce more of these cells.
>
> However, some scientists warned that progress in this direction could be
> slow.
>
> Jim Cohen, professor of cellular neurobiology at King`s College London,
> said:
> `We could be decades down the line of using this to come up with
> therapeutic
> treatments.
>
> `There are many unknowns. For example we know these stem cells are present
> in
> one part of the brain - but how easy would it be to replicate them in a
> different part?`
>
> Another option scientists could look at would be to transplant healthy
> regenerating cells into the brain of an Alzheimer`s or Parkinson`s disease
> sufferer.
>
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