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Parkinson's Disease research


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2015 Jan 27, 12:31am   67,365 views  99 comments

by curious2   ➕follow (2)   💰tip   ignore  

I've been reading a lot about Parkinson's Disease research, including especially stem cell research. "Now that the president is in favour, [advocate Michael J] Fox observes wryly, "there is no money" for Congress to pay for it." Am I the only one to notice this pattern: when R's are in charge, they call stem cell research "immoral" (though they launch phony wars killing thousands of people including children); when D's are in charge, they call stem cell research "unaffordable" (though they launch infinite mandatory spending on entrenched industry revenue models)? Are there any SF Bay area companies researching a cure for Parkinson's Disease, and what experience have they had?

Update 2016: in addition to the continuously updated list of projects in this thread, anyone interested in this topic should see the Michael J. Fox Foundation site.

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54   FNWGMOBDVZXDNW   2016 Apr 23, 8:10am  

Dr Oyekpen fucks genetically modified goats and uses the stem cells from the aborted goat-man embryos to formulate cures for various diseases. The snake oil is just a carrier fluid for the active ingredient.

55   FNWGMOBDVZXDNW   2016 Apr 23, 10:09am  

Ironman says

Dan, is that you?

Don't worry ironvagina, I'm sure your goats are organic. Plus, I heard you sucked the semen back out of the goat as a form of birth control.

56   curious2   2016 Apr 23, 5:11pm  

@Patrick, this thread is veering off topic and into a recurring flame war that has already littered other parts of PatNet. The flames are not commercial Spam, but is there a permissible way to remove them before they hijack the thread? Free speech doesn't benefit from burying the comments about Parkinson's research under a flaming haystack of goat feed.

57   Patrick   2016 Apr 23, 5:31pm  

how about ignoring the people who are in the flame war?

then you won't see them.

58   Patrick   2016 Apr 23, 5:55pm  

i'm trying to maintain a coherent and fair set of beliefs. currently, they are like this:

1. everyone has the right to say whatever the fuck they want on patrick.net, subject only to the 5 disallowed categories as documented in the "about" link:

threats
child porn
spam
copyright violations (upon notice)
personally identifying information

2. everyone also has the right to ignore people they do not want to hear from

59   curious2   2016 Apr 23, 6:13pm  

Thanks - for a while there was an option for the user who posted a new thread to deleted comments from it, and for a while those comments went to a different thread for deleted comments. I could start Ignoring people but I would miss their other comments. People have strengths and weaknesses, and everyone is imperfect. Ignore vs Unignore seems too binary when talking about something as complex as a person.

60   Patrick   2016 Apr 23, 6:22pm  

allowing deletion of comments felt like it violated belief number 1 above: "everyone has the right to say whatever the fuck they want on patrick.net"

it just seems too much like censorship to actually delete a comment.

61   curious2   2016 Apr 23, 6:23pm  

rando says

on patrick.net"

Maybe a "move" feature would help, as in "move this comment to a more appropriate thread," e.g. the flame war thread.

62   Patrick   2016 Apr 23, 6:28pm  

ok, maybe it should be possible to mark things as "off topic"

63   Tenpoundbass   2016 Apr 24, 7:54am  

curious2 says

@Patrick, this thread is veering off topic

Sorry I deleted my post, it was half serious btw.

64   curious2   2016 Apr 24, 1:54pm  

Thanks - I hadn't objected to your comment, which I saw was related to Parkinson's research. Subsequent comments went further astray.

Regarding stem cells, research is moving away from embryonic stem (ES) cells and towards cells grown in laboratories, including induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells made by scraping adult cells from a patient's skin and inducing them to produce stem cells. The iPS technology was first proved in 2007, and it is now reportedly easier to produce stem cells in a lab than to obtain them from fetal tissue. Meanwhile, studies of patients who had transplants using small needles to the brain have shown the transplanted cells do well, improving patients' symtoms markedly. (Other transplants to the brain had used larger needles, which were less successful. Some providers sell injections to the bloodstream, but they have not yet proved efficacy.) The ES cells were controversial even among patients, so iPS is becoming the new standard.

The iPS technology has huge potential for replacing whole organs, too: within around a decade, a patient needing a new kidney might be able to grow one from his own skin cells.

66   HEY YOU   2016 Jul 2, 7:28pm  

Patrick,
Comments aren't the problem,it's the commenters. lol

68   Dan8267   2016 Oct 29, 7:51pm  

rando says

1. everyone has the right to say whatever the fuck they want on patrick.net, subject only to the 5 disallowed categories as documented in the "about" link:

threats

child porn

spam

copyright violations (upon notice)

personally identifying information

So national security secrets are ok then, right?

69   Patrick   2016 Oct 29, 10:38pm  

Dan8267 says

So national security secrets are ok then, right?

If you've got some, go for it. The publicity would be fantastic.

70   Ceffer   2016 Oct 29, 10:43pm  

Statins don't treat people, they treat a test result that makes people paranoid.

They may, in fact, be more harmful than any good they do. Nontheless, in men with bad cholesterol who have parents who died young of heart disease, they may have some good placebo effect.

71   RealEstateIsBetterThanStocks   2016 Oct 29, 11:45pm  

YesYNot says

Plus, I heard you sucked the semen back out of the goat as a form of birth control.

the only comment worth reading in this entire boring nerd thread.

72   curious2   2017 Jan 14, 6:03pm  

93b3 says

he has the cure to all manner of diseases....

@Patrick, the spam/delete function seems to have been removed.

73   curious2   2017 Feb 5, 5:18pm  

2de6 says

this herbal clinic have successful parkinson's disease herbal treatment and treatment for other list of terminal diseases....

@Patrick, the same spammer seems to have returned with a similar User name...

74   HEY YOU   2017 Feb 5, 5:20pm  

Ironman says

but I'll delete my two posts to make you happy and keep your conversation on topic!

This is patnet.
DAMN SNOWFLAKES!
REPOST NOW! or buy them a crying towel.

Let me keep it on topic
Parkinson's Disease, CAN"T PAY CASH? FAILURES!

75   curious2   2017 Feb 5, 5:30pm  

...the lowest common denominator strikes again. "This is why we can't have nice things."

76   Patrick   2017 Feb 21, 7:43pm  

Thanks, spammer nuked.

77   Dan8267   2017 Mar 26, 7:24pm  

rando says

Dan8267 says

So national security secrets are ok then, right?

If you've got some, go for it. The publicity would be fantastic.

Trump doesn't actually exist. The entire election was staged. America hasn't had an actual election since 1856. The Know-Nothing Party has been ruling as a monarchy ever since then, simply faking elections to keep the general population from revolting. Over the past century and a half, the real rulers have gotten board and tried to entertain themselves by making politics more and more ridiculous to see if the public catches on. Their joke has grown to ridiculous proportions.

In actuality, Trump is a Max-Headroom-like A.I. designed to entertain people as a buffoon. The Electoral College, which has been stoned since 1963, recoded him to run for president as a goof and forgot to terminate the process. They are all passed out right now, but when the munchies set in, I suspect they will hold an emergency "election" and Shia LaBeouf will be elected.

78   curious2   2017 Mar 26, 8:31pm  

Bonnie says

AT) gmail (DOT) com

@Patrick, the Parkinson's spammer has returned...

79   curious2   2017 Mar 26, 8:41pm  

"Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center have reached a new milestone in their efforts to harness the immune system to slow or halt the progression of Parkinson’s disease.

In an early clinical trial in humans, the researchers used an existing drug to shift a population of white blood cells from a destructive mode to a protective state that can help defend against brain injury.

While the drug is sometimes used in patients receiving chemotherapy, it has not been used previously in Parkinson’s.

Not only did the researchers document the shift through blood tests, molecular studies and brain imaging, but they also saw preliminary evidence of improved motor skills in several patients who received the treatment, including a reduction in the disease’s characteristic tremors and improvements in tasks such as buttoning a shirt.

Currently, drugs and other treatments can be used to fight symptoms, but the effects generally give way to the disease in the long run.
***
“It’s new, it’s exciting, and the mechanism is designed to affect the disease rather than treat symptoms,” said Dr. Howard Gendelman, chairman of UNMC’s pharmacology and experimental neuroscience department.

Gendelman and R. Lee Mosley, a professor of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience and head of UNMC’s movement disorders research laboratory, led the study, a report on which appeared Thursday in the Nature Research journal npj Parkinson’s disease.
***
Gendelman said the researchers wouldn’t start a new study for a year or more, after they’ve reviewed data and improved drug formulation and administration.
***
Gendelman said a group of researchers from Taiwan published similar results last week, further validating the Nebraska team’s work. The Taiwanese group studied four patients but followed them for two years. At least eight other research groups around the world are pursuing the pathway in a variety of conditions.
***
he collaborators recently received renewed funding from the Michael J. Fox Foundation to further the work, focusing on a second-generation product that offers an improvement in the drug and a more patient-friendly route of administration — oral, rather than injection.

But Gendelman stressed that the basic work is homegrown in Nebraska, dating back roughly 20 years, and has been helped along by funding from local individuals and groups.
***
The study involved 20 Parkinson’s patients — 10 received the drug, 10 got a placebo. Neither the patients nor the researchers knew who was receiving the drug and who was not. The researchers also studied 17 people who did not have Parkinson’s, known as controls, for comparison.

The researchers followed the patients for six months — two months before starting treatment, two months on treatment and two months after treatment ended. Patients generally tolerated the drug well, although some had mild to moderate side effects."

80   curious2   2017 May 24, 3:33pm  

"Doxycycline Prevents Nerve Cell Damage in Mice with Parkinson’s"

No drug is yet proven and approved to slow the progression of Parkinson's Disease. Isradipine is approved for other purposes and is currently in stage III trials regarding Parkinson's Disease. Doxycycline is also approved for other purposes but has yet to begin clinical trials for Parkinson's disease. Physical exercise is probably the best known way to slow the progression of Parkinson's Disease, but it does not work perfectly, and many patients have other problems that limit physical exercise.

82   curious2   2017 Jun 29, 1:26pm  

MellyRandy says

the disease is totally reversed!! Visit there website

@Patrick, the Parkinson's spammer has returned. I do wish PatNet had a link to delete specific comments or move them to an "off topic" thread.

83   curious2   2017 Jun 29, 1:30pm  

"A Confused Immune System Could Be Behind Parkinson's Disease
***
"Our findings show that two fragments of alpha-synuclein, a protein that accumulates in the brain cells of people with Parkinson's, can activate the T cells involved in autoimmune attacks," said Sulzer.

So it seems as if T-cells might be fooled into thinking the body's dopamine producing brain cells are foreign due to a build-up of alpha-synculein, and somehow attacking them.

Genetic studies have also shown Parkinson's disease is linked with a variation in genes active in the immune response, adding further reason to suspect mistaken T-cells are responsible for the destruction of the brain's nerve cells.

"It remains to be seen whether the immune response to alpha-synuclein is an initial cause of Parkinson's, or if it contributes to neuronal death and worsening symptoms after the onset of the disease," said researcher Alessandro Sette from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology.

In recent years, the evidence has been mounting linking the gut with Parkinson's disease, with gut bacteria stirring up trouble, and possibly affecting the brain via the vagus nerve."

"The rogue protein behind Parkinson’s disease may also protect your gut

The hallmark brain damage in Parkinson’s disease is thought to be the work of a misfolded, rogue protein that spreads from brain cell to brain cell like an infection. Now, researchers have found that the normal form of the protein—α-synuclein (αS)—may actually defend the intestines against invaders by marshaling key immune cells. But chronic intestinal infections could ultimately cause Parkinson’s, the scientists suggest, if αS migrates from overloaded nerves in the gut wall to the brain.

“The gut-brain immune axis seems to be on a cusp of an explosion of new insights, and this work offers an exceptionally exciting new hypothesis,” says Charles Bevins, an expert in intestinal immunity at the University of California, Davis, who was not involved with the study."

84   curious2   2017 Jun 29, 5:39pm  

anonymous says

curious2 - Not sure if you have read this yet.

Thanks - yes - yet another argument against the "low fat" diet craze.

85   curious2   2017 Jun 29, 5:48pm  

VERY interesting study "is currently recruiting participants" with early PD (diagnosed within the last three years) to test an already available dietary supplement called inosine:

"A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial to determine whether oral inosine dosed to moderately elevate serum urate (from ≤5.7 mg/dL to 7.1-8.0 mg/dL) over 2 years slows clinical decline in early PD."

Centers include UCSF.

Unlike some other studies, I would definitely recommend anyone eligible consider enrolling in this particular study. The people involved are highly reputable, the drug is already widely used for other purposes and thus has a well known safety profile, and results are due in 2020, sooner than almost anything else.

From the Michael J. Fox Foundation: "The Phase II study funding of more than $5 million was MJFF's largest single grant at that time. MJFF also supported early pre-clinical work investigating the mechanism of urate in neuroprotection and studies into the interaction of inosine with diet and with other Parkinson's medication. In addition, we are funding a sub-study within SURE-PD3 to collect biospecimen samples from participants, including plasma and DNA, for future biomarker research.

SURE-PD3 will also collect additional data from some participants using the smartphone app mPower, which uses phone sensors to track symptoms of PD. Integrating wearable technology into SURE-PD3 may bolster participant engagement and can provide researchers with greater information on how the study drug affects the progression of motor symptoms.

Individuals diagnosed with PD within the past three years who have low blood urate levels and show dopamine loss on an imaging DaTscan, among other criteria, are eligible for the SURE-PD3 trial."

86   elliemae   2017 Jun 29, 11:06pm  

It'll be interesting to see where the healthcare shitstorm ends. Seems to me that the Repubs are more interested in repealing Obamacare than in fixing it or finding a suitable alternative. With a president that is childish and vindictive this is what we're stuck with. Fuck

88   curious2   2017 Aug 8, 6:37am  

Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT) has broad potential extending far beyond Parkinson's, but so far it's only been tried in mice and pigs, so I'll comment here rather than start a new Post. The reseaerch team at Ohio State University have applied to FDA to start human trials next year.

"Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT), injects genetic code into skin cells, turning those skin cells into other types of cells required for treating diseased conditions.
***
Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State's College of Engineering have developed a new technology, Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT), that can generate any cell type of interest for treatment within the patient's own body. This technology may be used to repair injured tissue or restore function of aging tissue, including organs, blood vessels and nerve cells.

Results of the regenerative medicine study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

"By using our novel nanochip technology, injured or compromised organs can be replaced. We have shown that skin is a fertile land where we can grow the elements of any organ that is declining," said Dr. Chandan Sen, director of Ohio State's Center for Regenerative Medicine & Cell Based Therapies, who co-led the study with L. James Lee, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering with Ohio State's College of Engineering in collaboration with Ohio State's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center.

Researchers studied mice and pigs in these experiments. In the study, researchers were able to reprogram skin cells to become vascular cells in badly injured legs that lacked blood flow. Within one week, active blood vessels appeared in the injured leg, and by the second week, the leg was saved. In lab tests, this technology was also shown to reprogram skin cells in the live body into nerve cells that were injected into brain-injured mice to help them recover from stroke.

The (free) Science Daily article excerpted above contains a link directly to the full Nature Nanotechnology article, which may require a subscription.

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