RESEARCH - Eye cell implants may ease Parkinson's - study

[Guest guest]

Eye cell implants may ease Parkinson's - study

Mon 12 Dec 2005 4:00 PM ET

By Stern

CHICAGO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - People with Parkinson's disease showed marked

improvement after surgeons implanted in their brains chemical-producing

cells taken from the eye of a dead donor, researchers said on Monday.

Cells from the inner, or pigment, layer of the eye's retina make levodopa,

which Parkinson's patients commonly take in pill form to replace lost

production of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Dopamine allows the brain to control and smooth the body's movements.

For most patients, the levodopa pills lose their effectiveness over five

years or less, and larger and larger doses are needed to keep at bay the

involuntary movements and shaking symptomatic of the disease.

Many people on the drug develop involuntary writhing or dance-like

movements.

The retina cells were cultivated and implanted in the brains of six patients

with advanced Parkinson's, researcher Natividad Stover of the University of

Alabama said.

One year later, the patients scored 48 percent higher on tests of movement

and coordination, and the improvement was sustained after two years, Stover

wrote in the journal Archives of Neurology.

" The implants were well tolerated, " the report said. " Improvement was also

observed in activities of daily living (and) quality of life. "

Parkinson's is a degenerative disease in which key brain cells that produce

dopamine die off. Symptoms start with tremors and rigidity and patients can

end up paralyzed. The cause of the disease that attacks 2 percent of men and

1.3 percent of women is unknown, and there is no cure.

Some scientists have viewed implanting fetal stem cells into the brains of

Parkinson's patients as a promising avenue to restoring dopamine production.

But preliminary human trials were disappointing, and animal experiments have

yielded mixed results.

Other treatments showing promise include deep brain stimulation with

implanted electrodes, drugs that promote brain cell growth, and gene

therapy.

The researchers said a larger study has been started to test the efficacy

and safety of retina cell implants.

http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=N12207428

Not an MD

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the information, ! I've printed it out for Ron to take

to his next neuro. appointment in January.

Judi

(exhausted from 12-hour days caring for 4 kids!)