Parkinson's Disease - 30 Year Discovery in the Making

There has not been an advancement in the treatment of Parkinson's disease in 30 years as was published this past week.

A research team, led by D. James Surmeier at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL have made a landmark contribution to the treatment of Parkinson's disease.  They have discovered a drug that not only slows down the disease, but shows the potential to halt symptoms altogether.  But before I go on...

What is Parkinson's Disease?
This crippling and debilitating disease affects the central nervous system (which include the brain and spine), by shutting down the nerve cells responsible for motor movement.  These cells produce a neurotransmitter, a molecule that nerve cells use to talk to each other, called dopamine (for a more in depth description, see this article).  When these cells stop producing dopamine in Parkinson's patients, the individuals lose their ability for controlled muscle movement.  As a result, the following symptoms occur:


Diagnosing Parkinson's is very difficult.  Neither blood tests, nor brain-imaging techniques can spot the disease.  What further complicates the matter is that Parkinson's is a member of a larger class of muscular-neurological diseases that present similar symptoms.


History of Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease was first described by British physician James Parkinson in 1817, and later amended by Jean-Martin Charcot 40 years later.  It was only then that the affliction Parkinson originally described as "Shaky Palsy" became known as Parkinson's disease.[source]

Although this neurological disorder has been long recognized in modern history, its biochemical origin was described almost 100 years later by Swedish Physician Arvid Carlsson, who would share the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his discovery [source].


Once administered, L-dopa is converted into dopamine by the brain, thus allowing the once deactivated motor neurons to work again.  Although L-dopa has been successfully used in the disease's treatment, there are drawbacks to long term treatment...


30 Years Later
D. James Surmeier discovered that, unlike most nerve cells, the cells afflicted by Parkinson's require large amounts of calcium to operate.

Then, much like many other discoveries in science, while Surmeier was working on a different question altogether, he stumbled upon some very interesting results.

Surmeier then asked, what would happen if you shut off these cells' dependence on calcium?  Would they revert back to their juvenile form?  Yes, they would!

By administering a drug called isradipine to mice, a chemical that effectively shuts down the entry of calcium into the motor neuron cells, he discovered they started using sodium to function instead.


Parkinson's Disease affects approximately 1 million Americans, with no tangible cure as of yet [source].  Surmeier and his colleagues' work will undoubtedly blow a wide hole into the future Parkinson's Disease treatments, once clinical trials begin.  Perhaps in 50 years, you'll find him with a Nobel Prize medal around his neck.

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LINKS
Parkinson's Disease Foundation
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
National Parkinson Foundation
Parkinson Society of Canada
UK Parkinson's Disease Society
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
Updated News on Parkinson's Disease
James Parkinson Biography