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Re: Spinal Cord Stimulator Sparks Hope For Parkinson's Disease Treatment



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&
Grant from The Parkinson Alliance 

How true, Paul.  There is a lot of stuff I never post,  like "breakthroughs"
because nothing ever comes of it.  For sure, our predicament is not
considered to be an emergency by the general public.

Ray

Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
rbrown@xxxxxxxxx

--------------------------------------------------
From: <PHL1037@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 5:36 PM
To: <PARKINSN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Spinal Cord Stimulator Sparks Hope For Parkinson's Disease
Treatment

And I'll ask more or less the same question I asked a month ago. When is
the next step to be taken? I guess I just don't understand the world (and
maybe  the rules or mores) of scientific research. Will someone start
investigating the  process with humans only if there is profit on the
horizon? Sure
doesn't  fit my type A personality! Why doesn't a PD Organization fund it.
Or
maybe Ali  or Fox if their Foundations can afford it. If I could afford it
I would! It is  so stupidly frustrating to keep reading about mice without
a
concrete time line  reference to humans. And if Apes come first, then GET
STARTED.  If there  were to be a call for Clinical Trial volunteers the
line
would probably stretch  from here to Natal Brazil.

Paul H. Lauer


In a message dated 6/4/2009 2:00:24 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
rayilynlee@xxxxxxx writes:

thanks  for the video, John.  I posted this news about a month  ago.
Ray

Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National  Parkinson  Foundation
rbrown@xxxxxxxxx

--------------------------------------------------
From:  "John Cottingham"
<jcott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent:  Wednesday, June 03, 2009 12:07 AM
To:  <PARKINSN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Spinal Cord Stimulator  Sparks Hope For Parkinson's Disease
Treatment

New research of stimulation of the spinal cord instead of the brain
shows 
promise of  countering movement disorders associated with Parkinson's
 disease.

Video from Duke University shows what has been accomplished. That video
is 
on the PIENO maillist page  at:

 http://parkinsons-information-exchange-network-online.com/maillist.html

Perhaps annual additions to the "Hole in the Head Gang" won't be
necessary 
if this proves to be a viable non-invasive treatment.

 John Cottingham



Novel Spinal Cord Stimulator Sparks Hope For Parkinson's Disease
Treatment 

ScienceDaily (Mar. 21, 2009) &shy; A novel  stimulation method, the first
potential therapy to target the  spinal cord instead of the brain, may
offer an effective and less  invasive approach for Parkinson's disease
treatment, according to  pre-clinical data published in the journal
Science 
by researchers  at Duke University Medical Center.

Researchers  developed a prosthetic device that applies electrical
stimulation  to the dorsal column in the spinal cord, which is a main
sensory  pathway carrying tactile information from the body to the brain.

The device was attached to the surface of the spinal cord in mice and
rats 
with depleted levels of the chemical dopamine - mimicking  the biologic
characteristics of someone with Parkinson's disease  along with the
impaired motor skills seen in advanced stages of  the disease.

When the device was turned on, the dopamine-depleted animals' slow,
stiff 
movements were replaced  with the active behaviors of healthy mice and
rats. Improved  movement was typically observed within 3.35 seconds after


stimulation.

"We see an almost immediate and dramatic change in the animal's ability
to 
function when the  device stimulates the spinal cord," says senior study
investigator  Miguel Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D., the Anne W. Deane Professor
of 
Neuroscience at Duke. "Moreover, it is easy to use, significantly  less
invasive than other alternatives to medication, such as deep  brain
stimulation, and has the potential for widespread use in  conjunction
with 
medications typically used to treat Parkinson's  disease."

Researchers tested mice and rats with acute  and chronic dopamine deficit
using varying levels of electrical  stimulation and in combination with
different doses of dopamine  replacement therapy, also known as
3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine  or L-DOPA, to determine the most effective


pairing.

When the device was used without  additional medication, Parkinsonian
animals were 26 times more  active. When stimulation was coupled with
medication, only two  L-DOPA doses were needed to produce movement
compared 
to five  doses when the medication was used by itself.

"This  work addresses an important need because people living with
Parkinson's disease face a difficult reality - L-Dopa will  eventually
stop
managing the symptoms," explains Romulo Fuentes, a postdoctoral fellow
at
Duke University and lead author of the study. "Patients are left with
few 
options for treatment,  including electrical stimulation of the brain,
which is  appropriate for only a subset of patients."

While deep  brain stimulation (DBS) and other experimental treatments
attack  the disease at its origin - in the brain - Nicolelis and team
took 
a different approach. The concept for the device began when  researchers
made a surprising connection with another neurological  condition.

"It was a moment of sudden insight,"  explains Nicolelis. "We were
analyzing the brain activity of mice  with Parkinson's disease and
suddenly 
it reminded me of some  research I'd done in the epilepsy field a decade
earlier. The  ideas began to flow from there."

The rhythmic brain  activity in the animals with Parkinson's disease
resembled the  mild, continuous, low-frequency seizures that are seen in
those  with epilepsy. One effective therapy for treating epilepsy inv
olves
stimulating the peripheral nerves, which facilitate communication
between
the spinal cord and the body. Researchers took that concept and
developed 
a modified approach for a Parkinson's  disease model.

Nicolelis says that the low frequency  seizures, or oscillations, seen in
the animal model of Parkinson's  disease have been observed in humans
with 
the condition.  Stimulating the dorsal column of the spinal cord reduces
these  oscillations, which researchers believe creates the ability to
produce motor function.

In a healthy body,  neurons fire at varying rates as information is
transmitted  between the brain and the body to initiate normal movement.
This  process breaks down in someone with Parkinson's  disease.

"Our device works as an interface with the brain to produce a neural
state
permissive for locomotion, facilitating immediate and dramatic recovery
of 
movement," says  Per Petersson, co-author of the study. "Following
stimulation, the  neurons desynchronize, similar to the firing pattern
that 
you  would see when a healthy mouse is continuously  moving."

Nicolelis says that if the device is proven  safe and effective through
further research, he imagines it  mirroring similar spinal cord
stimulator
technology currently used to treat chronic pain. Small leads are
implanted 
over the spinal  cord and then connected to a portable generator, a small
device  capable of producing mild electrical currents. During the trial
period, the generator is external, while for permanent treatment  it
would 
be implanted below the skin.

"If we can demonstrate that the device is safe and effective over the
long 
term in primates and then humans, virtually every patient could be
eligible for this treatment in the near future," Nicolelis  said.

The Duke team is collaborating with neuroscientists at the Edmond and
Lily 
Safra International  Institute of Neuroscience in Natal, Brazil, to test
the new  procedure in primate models of Parkinson's disease prior to
initiating clinical studies. Neuroscientists from the Brain and  Mind
Institute at the Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL), in  Lausanne,
Switzerland, will also participate in this international  research effort
to translate these new findings into clinical  practice.

Study co-authors include William Siesser and  Marc Caron.

Funding for this research was provided by  grants from the National
Institutes of Neurological Disorders and  Stroke (NINDS), International
Neuroscience Network Foundation  (INNF) and the Anne W. Deane Endowed
Chair.

----------
Adapted from  materials provided by Duke University Medical Center.
Email or  share this story:
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or  report? Use one of the
following  formats:
APA

MLA
Duke University  Medical Center (2009, March 21). Novel Spinal Cord
Stimulator  Sparks Hope For Parkinson's Disease Treatment


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