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This sounds like very good news but I have always been skeptical of these animal studies. Inducing Parkinson's symptoms by damaging rat brains creates PD symptoms but not the actual disease process. PD is a progressive, degenerative disease. Do the rats in the "control" group" show the same sort of declines we humans do? It seems to me that doctors and researchers are resolutely plowing the field of symptom relief while prevention and cure get short shrift. >Adult stem cell findings offer new hope for Parkinson's cure >Research released today provides evidence that a cure for >Parkinson's disease could lie just inside the nose of patients >themselves. >The Griffith University study published today (Thursday 9am US East >Coast) in the journal Stem Cells found that adult stem cells >harvested from the noses of Parkinson's patients gave rise to >dopamine-producing brain cells when transplanted into the brain of a >rat. >The debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's such as loss of muscle >control are caused by degeneration of cells that produce the >essential chemical dopamine in the brain. >Current drug therapies replace dopamine in the brain, but these >often become less effective after prolonged use. >The discovery is the work of the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell >Research, part of Griffith's Eskitis Institute for Cell and >Molecular Therapies. >Project leader Professor Alan Mackay-Sim said researchers simulated >Parkinson's symptoms in rats by creating lesions on one side of the >brain similar to the damage Parkinson's causes in the human brain. >"The lesions to one side of the brain made the rats run in circles," he said. >"When stem cells from the nose of Parkinson's patients were cultured >and injected into the damaged area the rats re-aquired the ability >to run in a straight line. >"All animals transplanted with the human cells had a dramatic >reduction in the rate of rotation within just 3 weeks," he said. >"This provided evidence the cells had differentiated to give rise to >dopamine-producing neurons influenced by being in the environment of >the brain. In-vitro tests also revealed the presence of dopamine." -- Steve in VT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn