Edie Luther. wrote:
> Has anyone heard anything about this new drug, ganghoside, .
Hello Edie,
Is this what you are looking for?...
GM1 Ganglioside May Improve Parkinson’s
Symptoms
PHILADELPHIA, PA -- June 22, 1998 -- A naturally-occurring substance in
the cell’s membrane may improve symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients
and perhaps even help slow down the progression of the disease,
according to studies by researchers at Jefferson Medical College of
Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
Jay Schneider, Ph.D., professor of pathology, cell biology and anatomy
and neurology and his co-workers compared a drug, GM1 ganglioside, with
a placebo in 45 patients with Parkinson’s disease receiving a 16-week
course of treatment.
"At the end of the study, test scores in the Unified Parkinson’s Disease
Rating Scale, which is a standard scale to measure motor abilities,
showed a significant difference between those who received the drug and
those who did not," Dr. Schneider said.
He and his colleagues at Jefferson report their findings in the June
issue of the journal Neurology.
The study was a double-blind trial. GM1 ganglioside is a normal part of
the cell membrane that plays an important role in cell growth,
development, signal transduction and repair after injury.
According to Dr. Schneider, many of the patients’ symptoms, such as
rigidity and slow movement, improved during participation in the trial.
Patients also reported that they were able to function better in
performing daily living activities, such as dressing and handling eating
utensils.
"Overall, every patient receiving GM1 improved to some degree," he said.
"They had less stiffness, less bradykinesia or slowness of movement, and
better manual dexterity and motor co-ordination."
While some participants in the placebo group also slightly improved, the
condition of the majority of those who did not receive the drug remained
unchanged.
Dr. Schneider and his group continue to follow 21 patients who wanted to
continue taking the drug upon study completion.
"Most of these patients have received GM1 treatment now for at least two
years," he explained. "The condition of 18 of these 21 patients is
better now than it was two years ago when they first began the trial.
Although they have improved with the treatment, the improvements in many
patients have levelled off."
Dr. Schneider recently presented these findings of the long-term
follow-up of these patients at the annual meeting of the American
Academy of Neurology.
"Some patients report significant improvements in the quality of their
life, though others say improvements have been more modest," he said.
"For many patients who have used GM1 for two years or more, it’s not so
much that they feel that symptoms continue to improve, but they don’t
feel they are getting substantially worse. For a progressive disease,
that’s something."
One reason this may happen is that the drug somehow stimulates remaining
dopamine-producing nerve cells to work better or causes regrowth or
sprouting of dopamine nerve endings in the brain. He would like to find
out if GM1 is playing either a neuroprotective or neurostimulatory role
in patients’ improvements.
It is supposed to
> rejuvinate damaged cells. Someone just told me about it. I think he said
> it's been in clinical trials for two years, but don't quote me on
> that..because I
> may have misunderstood him. Edie
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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