New Hope for Parkinsons Cure

There has been some amazing new research in the Parkinsons arena lately.

Parkinsons is a neurological condition in which the mid-brain substantia nigra ceases to produce adequate amounts of the neurotransmitter dopamine to control motor function. The result is manifested in rigidity, slowness of movement, tremors, loss of muscle tone and control, sleep disturbances, speech difficulties and many other impairments. At this time, it is a progressive disease with no cure.

A new gene has been found that shows great promise for the research, and eventual cure of Parkinsons.

By Nikhil Swaminathan, Scientific American

A successful treatment for Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects 1 percent of the world's population and (an estimated 500,000 people in the U.S.) aged 60 years and over, may be "in our sights now," says Ronald McKay, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

McKay's optimism stems from new research that shows that a gene, known as forkhead box A2 (FOXA2), is responsible for the differentiation and spontaneous destruction of neurons that secrete the neurotransmitter dopamine, a cell population that is progressively lost in Parkinson's disease, which is characterized by tremors, loss of muscle control and speech difficulties.

"We have the cells; we know what controls their birth and death—we're on our way," says McKay, a senior molecular biology investigator. "It looks like we've got this disease in our sights now. We will understand Parkinson's disease relatively soon."

You can read the entire article here:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=cause-and-treatment-for-parkinsons-in-sight

Embryonic stem cell research has been touted as "the-cure-all" for mankind. Still an important avenue of research, the use of embryonic stem cells has raised many moral and ethical questions. Many problems still exist in the extraction and use of these undifferentiated cells.

The manipulation of the (FOXA2) gene could provide a better, more ethical tool for the research and cure of this particular disease.

Being a Parkinsons patient myself, this is wonderful news.

Please note:The website address above has been changed to reflect the "Scientific American" site of the original article. The Michael J. Fox Foundation website link has been removed.