I don’t normally cover medical developments at this stage but with zero useful long term treatments for Parkinson’s Disease available, I feel that this is worth reporting.
The standard of treatment (essentially the ONLY treatment) for this nerve disease which affects about 700,000 Americans and upwards of 10 million worldwide has, for thirty years, been the chemical levodopa drug which initially gives very good relief from the disease which causes tremors and progressive paralysis along with a number of other symptoms.
Problems with L-dopa
Levodopa or L-dopa works great for most patients when initially given to Parkinson’s and other nerve damaged patients but the effectiveness wears off either gradually for Parkinson’s or dramatically for some other diseases.
Now a Cambridge, MA company, Voyager Therapeutics is conducting AADC gene therapy trials which shows promise in extending the period when L-dopa works.
This was shown in the 1990 Robert De Niro/Robin Williams movie Awakenings which chronicle the discovery by Dr. Oliver Sacks who produced dramatic awakening of catatonic patients who had suffered encephalitis infections.
Clinical Trial
The following is a direct quote from the clinical trial information sheet.
“Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder involving loss of neurons that release dopamine in the striatum. To compensate for the loss of dopamine, patients are typically prescribed levodopa medication which is converted to dopamine by the enzyme Aromatic L-Amino Acid Decarboxylase (AADC). As Parkinson's disease progresses, levodopa therapy becomes less effective and is associated with motor fluctuations, involuntary movements and other complications.
This study will primarily investigate the safety of increasing AADC levels in the striatum via AADC gene delivery. The hAADC gene is packaged into a gene transfer vector derived from a common, non-pathogenic virus (AAV2) to which >90% of humans have been exposed. This investigational drug, termed AAV2-hAADC, will be injected directly into the striatum during a neurosurgical procedure that is performed with real-time MRI imaging to monitor delivery.
Subjects will continue to take Parkinson's disease medications, including levodopa.
The safety and potential clinical responses to AAV2-hAADC will be assessed by repeated clinical evaluations of Parkinson's disease, cognitive tests, laboratory blood tests and neuroimaging. Clinical evaluations will be performed over a 3 year follow-up period. A test to specifically assess the clinical response to levodopa will be performed once before AADC gene delivery and approximately 6 months after.”
Find information on the clinical trial here: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01973543?term=AADC&rank=2
Just 3min read and it very vital for my fellow,I am a 51 year old female that just found out I have Motor Neuron Disease Parkinson's about a year and half, but I have been having signs of it for years, tremors, depression, body weakness. ECT. I honestly don't think my doctor was reading the signs because of my gender and age. A few years ago I had my shoulder lock up on me and I was sent to a P.T since x-rays didn't show any physical damage. My shaking was getting worse and I began falling. Only when my speech became so bad that it brought concern to my dentist was Parkinson's even considered. He phoned my doctor with his concerns about my shaking and balance problems. By this time I was forgoing shots in the back of my neck for back and neck pain to which once again I was sent to a P.T (although x-rays showed no damage) I was told I had a few spurs which were most likely causing the pain. Here I was feeling like my whole body was falling apart and doctor could not find anything wrong, maybe in was all in my head? My doctor even seemed annoyed with me and things just kept progressing and I just kept it to myself, why bother going through testing and them finding nothing? Well, it was after my second P.T called my doctor about the weakness in my legs and arms, by this time I have developed a gait in my walk and I fell more frequently. Only then did my doctor send me to a specialist and it was found that I had Parkinson's, and that I have had it for awhile. I think because I was a woman that my signs and symptoms weren't taken seriously and therefor left untreated for so long,I was taking pramipexole dihydrochloride three times daily, I Was on carbidopa levodopa but only lasted 90 minutes then wore off.I found that none of the current medications worked effective for me.I got tired of using those medication so I decided to apply natural herbs formula that was prescribed to me by my second P.T, i purchase the herbal formula from totalcureherbsfoundation. com, There has been huge progression ever since I start the treatment plan which will last for 15 weeks usage.all the symptoms and sign has begin to disappear .
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