Regenerating neurons using retroviral gene therapy 6
Once a treatment is discovered for stopping Parkinson’s progression, the next step is growing back the neurons, i.e. regenerating neurons.
Once a treatment is discovered for stopping Parkinson’s progression, the next step is growing back the neurons, i.e. regenerating neurons.
Treatment of symptoms is certainly lucrative. But there is a desperate need for treatments that slow, stop, or reverse the disease itself.
People often ask me if Parkinson’s disease is “genetic or environmental”. The answer is that it depends on age of onset. Identical twin studies are helpful.
Scientists observed protein clumping in yeast, caused by a deficiency in zinc, that looks similar to what is seen in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Researchers are studying RNA interference because understanding this process has the potential to lead to a cure for Parkinson’s and other diseases.
Parkinson’s is not a single issue that can be slowed with a single supplement like CoQ10. By the time of diagnosis multiple directions of attack are needed.
Researchers feel that creating a therapy for regenerating neurons in people with Parkinson’s disease will involve manipulating this pathway with new drugs.
Do those with early onset Parkinson’s hold out more hope for a cure, whereas older sufferers simply want more comfort?
The same PARK2 mutation that causes some early onset Parkinson’s cases, also leads to greater sensitivity to intracellular bacterial infections.
Out of 2,000 compounds, the screen found a family of new drugs, including an existing drug called UDCA, that allowed the mitochondria to work again.