Parkinson's+Disease


 * __Parkinson's Disease __**


 * Root cause: **

Cell death; death of dopamine-generating cells in the midbrain, specifically the Substantia Nigra. The exact cause of cell death is still unknown.




 * Affected cell types: **

Parkinson’s disease involves the malfunction and death of vital nerve cells in the brain called neurons. The basal ganglia, a group of cohesively functional nuclei found at the base of the forebrain, are most affected by Parkinson’s disease. All five of the major pathways connecting the basal ganglia to other parts of the brain are affected.


 * Historical background: **

James Parkinson was an English doctor who was the first to describe the disease in 1817 in a work called “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy”. In this work he reported his observations on six cases of “paralysis agitans” which would later be known as Parkinson’s disease. The new name was proposed by Jean-Martin Charcot whose work between 1868 and 1881 contributed to significant advances in the understanding of the disease. Some notable people who have been diagnosed with PD include actor Michael J. Fox, Olympic medalist Davis Phinney and former professional boxer Muhammad Ali.


 * Common Symptoms: **

Motor symptoms include tremor, bradykinesia (slowness of movement), rigidity, and posture instability. Non-motor symptoms include autonomic dysfunction, neuropsychiatric problems (mood, cognition, or behavior), and difficulties with sensory or sleeping patterns.


 * Standard treatments: **

There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease but treatments are being constantly developed and improved for the management of symptoms of the disease. Currently, the standard treatment for PD patients is drug therapy to slow the progression and minimize the symptoms. Levodopa and Dopamine Agonists are commonly used to increase dompamine levels in the brain and relieve motor symptoms. Surgical treatment is sometimes required as well. Different surgical proceedures include Pallidotomy, Thalamotomy, Electrical Stimulation, and Neural Implants. Physical therapy is also a measure often taken to improve motor function.


 * Current research: **

One area of research for this disease is in the growing field of stem cell therapy. Cell replacement therapy with pluripotent stem cells as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease has been tested and found to produce results showing significant motor improvements in several experiments using rodent models of PD (Preynat-Seauve et al., 2009). An approach that transplanted fetal mesencephalic tissues containing dopeminergic neurons to the Stratium in human patients was conducted by many small, limited independent groups. A consistency in the results of these studies was the improvement of motor function and evidence that these tissues could survive in the human Straitum (Mendez et al., 2000). However, the overall clinical benefits from one individual to the next varied greatly. Gene therapy is another area of study in the development of PD treatments. This therapy involves the use of a virus to transport a gene to the brain that will produce an enzyme that will benefit in preventing or protecting against neural damage. Clinical trials have been conducted using gene therapy but its usefulness is still unknown, though there have not been any substantial detrimental effects reported from these recent clinical tests (Obeso et al., 2010).


 * References: **

Mendez, I., et al., 2000. Simultaneous intrastriatal and intranigral grafting (double grafts) in the rat model of Parkinson’s disease. Brain Res. Brain Res. Rev. 32, 328–339.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Obeso JA, Rodriguez-Oroz MC, Goetz CG. 2010. Missing pieces in the Parkinson's disease puzzle. Nat. Med. 16 (6): 653–61. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Preynat-Seauve, O., Burkhard, P. R., Villard, J., Zingg, W., & Ginovart, N. (2009, March 19). Pluripotent stem cells as new drugs? The example of Parkinson’s disease. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 381, 113-121.