Dear Donna: Dr. Kurth isn't the only believer in gene therapy as a possible
cure for PD - I have heard that several times - in fact Dr. Roger Duvoisin
of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (Rutgers) who wrote the book
PARKINSON'S DISEASE - A Guide for patient and Family, said at a PD seminar in
Ottawa, Canada, last summer that he believes a cure will come from molecular
genetics and from nowhere else, and that it will come very quickly because
modern technology makes that possible.
For example, the site of the gene for Huntington's disease was found in
l983 but the actual gene itself was not identified until l993. However the
site of the gene for Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS)was discovered in l991 and
the gene itself identified in l993. Similar developments have taken place
with Alzheimer's disease and things are moving much more quickly now
Dr. Duvoisin admits that ten years ago he spent a lot of time looking
for an environmental toxin as the likely cause of PD and discounted the idea
that it was genetically linked. It has been very hard to change his mind.
He feels now we should forget studies of twins and look at whole families.
He gives examples of PD in various families in different parts of the world
and quotes studies of primates which tend to show PD may be older than the
human race.
Last summer, in Ottawa (my home town), Dr. Duvoison predicted that a
marker for the Parkinson gene will be found in the next couple of years, and
that the gene itself will be found within 2 years after that.
We should designate our donations for research to find that blasted gene,
eh?
Feel more hopeful?
Barbara Yacos, RN
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