Heard this today on Sixty Second Housecall...
Dr. Bob Lanier says a new chemical may actually help sprout new roots on
old brain cells.
(Web site: askdrbob.com)
6 September, 1999
New Growth factor for Parkinson's Disease makes brain cell sprout new
roots
Parkinson's Disease affects millions of Americans over the age of fifty
with symptoms of tremor, shuffling feet, decrease in speech volume,
fatigue, and balance problems. We've seen what it can do to athletes
like Muhammad Ali, but there is new hope in some futuristic research.
Dr. Bob Lanier says a new chemical may actually help sprout new roots on
old brain cells.
(News on Parkinson's Disease) - you know how root stimulator hormones
work - dip a cutting - wait a week or so and wah- lah - a new plant.
Wouldn't it be neat if you could do that with brain cells? Dr. Jay
Schneider at Jefferson Medical College is working on just that thing - a
chemical called GM1 Ganglioside that has been successful in the
laboratory about sprouting new receptors for the critical dopamine that
is at the root of this problem. But there's more - if you have a
Pennsylvania connection and if you have Parkinson's Disease, you might
want to talk to Dr. Schneider about enrolling in his brand new study as
a volunteer. Here's how you do that - call 1-800- JEFF-NOW. He's looking
for 150 folks for a five year trial. It's a big commitment, but this is
not a drug that treats symptoms - it could fix part of the underlying
problem
Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, will lead a five-year
clinical trial involving 150 patients. The study will compare the
effectiveness of GM1 ganglioside -- a naturally occurring substance in
the nerve cell's membrane that plays an important role in cell growth,
development, and repair -- to standard Parkinson's disease treatments,
which improve symptoms but do not alter the disease process.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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