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-- [ From: Donna Kipp * EMC.Ver #2.10P ] -- Parkinson's Disease UPDATE Newsletter Reprint from UPDATE Newsletter, Issue #54, 1995, Medical Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA Telephone: 1-800-947-6658 Fax: 215-947-2552 The Immune System And Parkinson's Disease: Focus on Inflammatory Cytokines Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder. It is characterized by the progressive destruction of a small group of nerve cells located in a brain region called the substantia nigra. These nerve cells make dopamine, and the loss of this transmitter substance causes most, if not all, of the primary symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Other neurodegenerative disorders include Huntington's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS; Lou Gehrig's disease), and Alzheimer's disease. All these diseases are characterized by the progressive loss of specific sets of nerve cells. The reason for the premature demise of nerve cells in Parkinson's disease and in other neurodegenerative disorders is still unknown. All over the world, scientists are trying to identify what causes nerve cells to die in these disorders. The hope is to discover treatments that block the cause and therefore halt disease progression. One of the most intriguing features associated with each of the neurodegenerative disorders is that in each one only certain subsets of nerve cells die. Scientists are therefore convinced that, for each disease, the cause must be linked to something that is unique about the set of nerve cells that are lost. Identifying this unique trait could give important clues to what causes the disease. Some scientists believe that finding the cause of each neurodegenerative disorder could take a very long time. They think that a faster way to discover cures for these diseases, is to find how nerve cells die, regardless of the cause. The hope in this case is to identify treatments that block nerve cell death (rather than the cause of nerve cell death)