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from Viartis: PARKINSON'S DISEASE NEWS 9th March 2009 - New review DOES PARKINSON'S DISEASE OCCUR IN ANIMALS ? Studies claiming a "breakthrough" in Parkinson's Disease have described methods as being successful despite only ever having been carried out on rats and mice - a fact that is often barely mentioned in press releases. Some "breakthroughs" in Parkinson's Disease have actually involved fruit flies or worms news report. Although rats and mice that are studied did not have Parkinson's Disease, they have been claimed by researchers to be cured or largely rid of Parkinson's Disease. Their "Parkinson's Disease" has instead been chemically induced. The weight of a human is about 100 times that of a mouse or rat, so the dosages are not comparable. Side effects that would be apparent in humans are often unnoticeable in mice and rats. Given that most drugs eventually cause an opposite after effect, the results of what are usually short term studies are often meaningless. Consequently, what is described as a "breakthrough" using rats or mice, inevitably turns out to be useless when eventually tested in people that actually do have Parkinson's Disease. However, animals can still get Parkinson's Disease, because the biochemistry of many animals is little different from that of humans. It could occur in numerous animals such as dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, monkeys. All mammals have to produce dopamine. So they are able to become deficient in dopamine, just as humans are, and thereby develop Parkinson's Disease. Some species don't live long enough for it to commonly occur. In some animals it can appear different from how it does in humans, or is not so apparent, or not so common. 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