Friends--did others see the Today show about 9:00 AM today, when Dr.
Duvoisin was interviewed re:the NIH gene research? A kind friendalerted us, and
as well as I can recall, this was the gist of his remarks:
The findings are from research on one family, and are very important.
They have found the area where the gene is located, and should easily
find the flawed gene in a month to 18 mos. Then they have to identify
the protein which causes the flaw, and that will takelonger. There can be
more genes involved, with other families.(In the case of Alzheimers there
are 4 identified so far.) That could take several years, but he forsees
a cure in 10-15 yrs. When asked what this means for children of PWPs he
said they would havea 50-50 chance of getting PD, based on the genetics
involved.
If someone heard thisdifferently, please correct any errors. We didn't have
timeto tape it, but maybe someone else did? It was neat to see Dr. Duvoisin,
who has been such a giant in the field of PD and whose book,"Parkinsons
Disease, a Guide for Patient and Family" we had just been consulting again!
BTW, we recommend it as an invaluable resource for all PWPs and CGs.
Peter Flintermann,78/7,and his CG,Camilla in Ohio
