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PARKINSON'S DISEASE NEWS 23rd February 2009 - New research THE DEATH RATE IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE Movement Disorders [2009] Feb 17 [Epub ahead of print] (Diem-Zangerl A, Seppi K, Wenning GK, Trinka E, Ransmayr G, Oberaigner W, Poewe W.) Complete abstract Parkinson's Disease is not a fatal illness. However, it has often been claimed that somebody has died due to the complications of Parkinson's Disease, such as the assertion made on the following web site : "Parkinson's sufferers eventually die from secondary complications such as pneumonia, urinary tract infection, pressure sores, septicemia and stroke." Although Parkinson's Disease reduces the ability to cope with some medical disorders, deaths due to some medical disorders have been associated with Parkinson's Disease even though Parkinson's Disease has nothing in common with them. Researchers have shown that claims of death being much more likely in Parkinson's Disease are greatly exaggerated. After 5 years of Parkinson's Disease, the death rate was actually significantly lower than for other people of the same age. Even after 10 years of Parkinson's Disease, the death rate remained lower than for people without Parkinson's Disease. Only after 15 years with Parkinson's Disease did somebody's risk of mortality increase beyond the norm, and even then it was only slight - 1.2 times more than would be expected. After 20 to 30 years with Parkinson's Disease, the increased likelihood of mortality was still only 1.3 times normal. The risks were found to be even less for females. 20th February 2009 - New research STEM CELL SURGERY FAILS TO RID PARKINSON'S DISEASE The Open Stem Cell Journal [2009] 1 : 20-29 (M.F.Lévesque, T.Neuman, M.Rezak) Complete study Researchers have published what is described as "a landmark peer-reviewed paper" that details "the first successful adult neural stem cell transplantation to reverse the effects of Parkinson's Disease". For more information go to the News release. However, the study involved only one patient, and surgical operations for Parkinson's Disease are renowned for their strong placebo effect. That patient's symptoms appeared to reduce by around 80%. However, the patient still had to remain on Parkinson's Disease drugs. After five years they had symptoms that were worse than when they started, and that were deteriorating rapidly. This completely nullifies claims of the operation being "landmark" or "successful". Stem cell operations have been carried out around the world. Yet nobody has come away from them rid of Parkinson's Disease. This is not surprising, because the use of stem cell surgery is based on the false assumption that there is massive cell loss in Parkinson's Disease and that replacing lost cells is the logical means of treating it. However, not a single study in the entire medical literature has shown that there is massive cell loss in Parkinson's Disease. Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson 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