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Ray You can also add that although GDNF delivery via pump infusion produced very encouraging clinical trial results, it is not currently an option for PD treatment because Amgen pulled the plug on it. Amgen refuses to provide GDNF, for which it owns the patent for additional clinical trials, refuses to allow other companies to develop this treatment and after 3 years refuses to release the monkey toxicology data that will prove or disprove its claims that the treatment caused lesions in the cerebellum of monkeys. Linda www.pdpipeline.org -- rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Today this info is still out there but: (1) Turner's PD returned and Levesque didn't answer my question about Turner. (2) Patricia Payne never had Phase II -as Levesque just told you it is still on hold. (3) the KY study has nothing to do with stem cells of any kind. It is the GDNF Amgen study. This from the people who draw their moral lines on our sorry bodies. According to a neutral source re Levesque's 2004 US Senate Subcommittee testimony he conceded that not enough research had been done on ESCs to say what was possible. I as yet have not found the text of his testimony. Ray Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, the second-most common disease of this type, after Alzheimer's disease. It is caused when nerve cells responsible for the production of dopamine die or become impaired. It is characterized by four common symptoms: rest tremor of a limb, slowness of movement, rigidity, and poor balance.[46] Adult stem cells have already been used to provide successful and effective treatment for Parkinson's disease. In 1999, Dennis Turner was successfully treated with his own adult neural stem cells by Dr. Michael Levesque, M.D. At the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in 2002, Dr. Levesque described how Turner's symptoms were reduced by more than 80 percent.[47] According to Turner, "Soon after having the cells injected, my Parkinson's symptoms began to improve. My trembling grew less and less until to all appearances it was gone, only slightly reappearing if I became upset. Dr. Levesque had me tested by a neurologist, who said he wouldn't have known I had Parkinson's if he had met me on the street. I was once again able to use my right hand and arm normally, enjoying activities that I given up hope of ever doing." [48] Because of the treatment he received, Turner was able to travel to Africa to go on a safari and photograph wild animals in their native environments. Patricia Payne, a mother of five, has suffered from Parkinson's disease for over 15 years and plans to begin treatment soon with adult stem cells. She testified before the Massachusetts State Legislature in 2005: "I don't want to see cures, even a cure for my terrible disease, to be obtained by destroying a fellow human being at the earliest and most vulnerable stage of their existence. To kill one human being for the benefit of another is never morally justifiable." She added, "To kill the weak in order to benefit the strong is even more objectionable."[49] A 2005 study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery described how University of Kentucky scientists were able to successfully treat ten patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, observing noticeable improvement in balance and motor function. The treatment involved stimulation of the patient's own brain stem cells.[50] An earlier 2003 study in Great Britain noted an average of 61 percent improvement in five patients after their adult neural stem cells were stimulated with a similar protein injection.[51] Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn