Monday, April 6, 2015

Progress made in the fight against Parkinson's Disease (& good news for stem cell therapies as well!)


A new method of treating stem cells has been proven effective and, most importantly safe, in the treatment of mice for Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s disease is caused by the reduction of dopamine-producing neurons and affects around 10 million people worldwide. The current treatment is either medications or electrical implants, both with severe side effects and both fail to prevent the disease from progressing.  Brazilian researchers at IDOR and UFRJ have found that stem cell generated neurons work as an effective treatment for Parkinson’s, however the mice treated developed tumors and died within 3-7 weeks of treatment. The researchers then found if they treated the stem cells with mitomycin C the mice do not develop tumors and live up to 15 months with no signs of pathology, way beyond the observation period of 12 weeks. Mitomycin C prevents DNA replication, preventing tumors from forming.

Any person who knows an individual suffering from Parkinson’s can appreciate how groundbreaking this study is. Although stem cell research is controversial, it is hard to argue with the fact that this study could help a multitude of people. Hopefully this study will lead to a better treatment and eventually a cure for Parkinson’s disease, but for now it is comforting to see steps being taken towards that direction.

3 comments:

  1. This article proves very hopeful for individuals suffering from Parkinson's Disease. Stem cell is a crucial step towards finding cures for many things and to achieve this for Parkinson's is a giant leap forward. The fact that scientists and researchers were able to use stem cell generated neurons while proving them effective is amazing. In addition, I am glad they were able to find a treatment for the tumors that develop. Very interesting article

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael,
    Although I am not completely decided on my opinions on the use of stem cells I do feel it was necessary in this case. The findings are amazing and they do greatly increase chances of finding treatments for parkinson's. Due to this I completely agree the use of stem cells was crucial to the research.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael,
    Although I am not completely decided on my opinions on the use of stem cells I do feel it was necessary in this case. The findings are amazing and they do greatly increase chances of finding treatments for parkinson's. Due to this I completely agree the use of stem cells was crucial to the research.

    ReplyDelete