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Hi all,

This is in response to a post a few weeks ago by (I think) Barb Mallut,
concerning GDNF trials.

Gin and I attended the OHSU Parkinson's symposium in Portland (OR) last
weekend and listened to Dr. J. Nutt talk about the GDNF study OHSU is
doing. According to Dr. Nutt, OHSU is one of six centers, and will be
administering GDNF to 8 patients. They have two, had three more scheduled
for screening, and are looking for the other three. I suspect OHSU is
looking for patients already associated with the Parkinson's Center of
Oregon, but I don't know that for sure.

The general number for Oregon Health Sciences University is 503/494-8311.

First, this is stuff injected into the brain, so some kind of shunt
apparatus(not clear on details) needs to be implanted for the study. Also,
it is quite a time committment, so travel would be a consideration. One of
the people associated with the Parkinson's Center at OHSU said she wasn't
sure if having had a pallidotomy would disqualify a person for the study.

The other bit of information we gleaned from the symposium had to do with
Coenzyme Q 10. A research doc from San Diego, Dr. Clifford Schultz, is just
starting a study involving CoQ10, and is getting it in pill form from a
supplier in Ashland, OR, called Vital Line. Two hundred mg of CoQ10 is
combined with 400 mg of vitamin E, and his study will administer this three
times daily. We haven't checked this out, but Dr. Schultz mentioned price
as being a consideration, which is a little ominous, if you know what I
mean.

That's it from here. Oh, at the risk of getting in the line of fire re:
registration, while I'm not much for being part of anyone's database, I
always have the sneaking suspicion that the folks who want to know about me
have ways that I haven't dreamed about, and that if I could actually do
some good by participating, I probably wouldn't be anymore public than I
already am. But then, I don't have Parkinson's (my wife does), and don't
need to sweat the jumbies at the Division of Motor Vehicles or the
insurance wallahs. Just my thoughts, worth what you pay for them.

Best to all on a wet Oregon Sunday.

Pete Morgan
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