Post: 006420 006485

Factor, S.: Movement Disorders 1993;8:240-241:
Acetazolamide (Diamox), used to prevent and treat acute mountain sickness, dramatically reduced menstrual-related fluctuations of PD symptoms. Formal trial is urged.

Science News, 7 Oct 1995;(news item):148:230:
Fetal tissue for grafting in PD surgery is not only controversial but scarce. There is only a narrow window of gestation age where the transplant is viable, spontaneous or ectopic sources don't work, and 5 (sic) or more human fetuses are required for each transplant. A PET scan after 5 months confirmed the first successful graft using pig embryo cells, and 2 of 3 patients showed symptomatic improvement. Researchers will continue trials to establish safety and to see if immunosuppression can be avoided.

Singaram, C., et al: Lancet 1995;346:861-864:
Long-standing PD often includes chronic constipation, leading to unpleasant effects such as megacolon. Study of tissue from ll such PD patients revealed failure of dopaminergic neurons in the gut.

Anderson, D.: Engineering & Science, Sept 1995:26:
A vertebrate embryo begins with a single fertilized cell, which divides and redivides many timess, and diversifies during that process to create all the different cells which eventually comprise the complete organism. Research has found cells at an early stage of development called progenitor cells, which can be made in the laboratory to develop eventually into neurons. Hopefully someday those cultured cells may be used to replace the damaged neurons of degenerative diseases such as PD. If this sounds complicated, it is, far beyond what you see here, and any therapeutic application is years away. But pay attention, because if there is ever a cure for PD, this will be it.

Tuite, P., et al: Ann Neur 1995;38:684-687:
Machado-Joseph disease is a rare hereditary variant of PD, that responds to levodopa therapy.

McDermott, M., et al: Arch Neur 1995;52:565-570:
In the 800-subject DATATOP study of Deprenyl and Tocopherol, patients who reached end-point (the need for levodopa) soonest were those presenting with bradykinesia and posture instability/gait difficulty.

Durif, F., et al: Neur 1995;45:1855-1858:
Levodopa-induced and apomorphine-induced dyskinesia was improved in 7 PD patients given fluoxetine (Prozac). (note: I tried Prozac last year and quit because it worsened tremor- JRB.)

Hurwitz, A., et al: Neur 1995;45:1903-1906:
The two most significant factors in PD etiology are pesticide exposure and family history. Researchers looking for more positive biomarkers (see next item) thought the enzyme thiomethyltransferase (TMT) might be deficient in PD, but found no difference in 32 patients and 35 controls.

JAMA 25 Oct 95;(news item);1257-1258:
At the request of Congress, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) held a 2-day workshop on research priorities for PD. The main recommendations are:(1) factors that lead to premature cell death; (2) genetic susceptibility; (3) improvements in drug therapy; (4) identification of clinically useful markers. Regarding (3), there is growing evidence that chronic levodopa therapy is toxic, and better dopamine agonists are needed. Regarding (4), the current PET technique is reliable and accurate, but too cumbersome for general screening. One possibility is a test of the detoxifying liver enzyme P-450 using the nontoxic surrogate debrisoquin.