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I did notice the date as I try to - don't know how we missed this one in Sept. I do think my PD has not progressed much since my 2003 DBSs, with the exception of my voice which I had trouble with a few months after but my neuro says it is due to the DBS. Ray Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] -------------------------------------------------- From: "Kathleen Cochran" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 4:13 AM To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: DBS halts PD progression > Note that it is dated September of 2008... > > Kathleen > > > > 2009/4/27 rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]> > >> This is a bit of good news: >> >> Deep Brain Stimulation Halts Cell Loss, Parkinson's Researchers Find >> >> ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2008) - Deep brain stimulation, a surgical >> technique >> often viewed as a last resort for people with Parkinson's disease, halts >> the >> progression of dopamine-cell loss in animal models, according to >> preliminary >> research by scientists at the Neuroscience Institute at the University of >> Cincinnati (UC) and University Hospital. >> >> The scientists also discovered clues to why the technique works. The act >> of >> stimulating neurons with electrodes boosted the amount of an important >> protein in animals' brains. The protein, a trophic factor known as BDNF >> (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), is a nurturing, growth-promoting >> chemical. >> >> Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder involving the >> death of dopamine-producing brain cells, or neurons. >> >> "Demonstrating that deep brain stimulation halts the progression of >> dopamine-cell loss was basically a confirmation and extension of previous >> findings," says Caryl Sortwell, PhD, associate professor of neurology at >> UC >> and the study's lead investigator. "But finding the mechanism is a novel >> discovery that is even more critical. We now know not only that it works, >> we >> also are beginning to understand how it is working." >> Sortwell recently announced her team's results at a professional >> conference >> held by the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institute of Neurological >> Disorders and Stroke. >> >> The research holds important implications for patients with Parkinson's >> disease and could alter the current recommended timetable for surgical >> intervention. >> >> In a typical treatment scenario, a patient has lost about 50 percent of >> his >> or her dopamine-producing neurons when symptoms first appear and a >> diagnosis >> is made. The typical patient then waits an average of 14 additional years >> before undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery. During that 14-year >> span, >> medications can offer symptomatic relief, but cell loss continues >> unabated. >> There is at present no cure for the disease. >> >> Sortwell's research was a response to an observation by physicians, >> including co-investigator George Mandybur, M.D., associate professor of >> neurosurgery, who have long been able to neutralize, in certain patients, >> some of the most debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including >> tremor, stiffness, and slowness, by stimulating an area deep within the >> brain. >> >> "The surgery for Parkinson's disease has been available for over 10 >> years, >> and in that time we have noticed that in some patients the disease does >> not >> seem to progress as rapidly after surgery as it did before the surgery," >> says Mandybur, a neurosurgeon with the Mayfield Clinic. As a result, he >> and >> others theorized that DBS not only alleviated symptoms, but also provided >> neuroprotection. >> >> The UC study, Mandybur says, "helps us to understand why this is going on >> and what may be happening in the brain. It also gives some evidence to >> support performing the surgery earlier to slow the overall progression of >> Parkinson's disease." >> >> Sortwell's study, which is continuing, is supported by a $120,000 grant >> from the Sunflower Revolution fundraiser, a partnership of the University >> Hospital Foundation and the Davis Phinney Foundation. The 2008 Sunflower >> Revolution, scheduled for Sept. 5-7, includes a gala, a free educational >> symposium for patients, families and caregivers, and bike rides of 20, >> 40, >> and 100 kilometers. (See http://www.sunflowerrev.org.) >> >> During the DBS study, researchers implanted high-frequency stimulating >> electrodes in the subthalamic nucleus, an area of the brain associated >> with >> movement, in rats and then induced dopamine neuron loss. When the rats >> had >> experienced a 50 percent loss of dopamine neurons, the researchers >> initiated >> brain stimulation in half of the group. Measurements of surviving, >> functioning dopamine neurons in rats implanted with active stimulators >> were >> then compared to a control group implanted with inactive stimulators. >> While >> the control group's loss of dopamine neurons increased to 75 percent >> after >> two weeks, the rats implanted with active stimulators experienced no >> further >> loss of cells during that time. >> >> Subsequent tissue analysis revealed that in rats implanted with active >> stimulators the trophic factor BDNF had tripled in the striatum, a part >> of >> the brain that houses dopamine terminals and "receives" the dopamine >> neurotransmitters that are produced in the substantia nigra. >> >> The study has brought together investigators from four academic >> disciplines: Sortwell, and Timothy Collier, PhD., and doctoral student >> Anne >> Spieles-Engemann, from UC's department of neurology; Michael Behbehani, >> PhD, >> from the department of physiology; Jack Lipton, PhD, from the department >> of >> psychiatry; and Mandybur, from the department of neurosurgery. Michael >> Behbehani, PhD, professor of molecular and cellular physiology and >> anesthesia, established the method for implanting the electrodes in the >> rat's tiny subthalamic nucleus. >> >> The initial study platform was funded by UC's Millennium Fund and >> subsequently by the Neuroscience Institute. >> >> Adapted from materials provided by University of Cincinnati. >> >> 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 >> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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