#91: Movement Disorder Quarter, Installment #2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (337)

Steadying Guidance on Motor Disturbances

Hear these reports:

• Gene Therapy Showed Promise for Parkinson Disease
• NIH Examines Creatine for Parkinson’s Therapy
• Tips for Calming Motor Fluctuations
• Parkinson’s Drug Permax Withdrawn from Market
• Parkinson’s Rotigotine Patch Treatment Approved
• Safinamide Enhances Control of Parkinson’s: Combining the drug with dopamine enhanced the latter’s efficacy, which can lessen over time
• Simvastatin Found to Reduce Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s Risk
  

We also reviewed these reports from previous STAT! episodes:

• sNNOO31 neural stem cell differentiator protein for Parkinson’s (from episode #7)
• Stereotactic implantation of human cadaveric dopamine-producing retinal pigment epithelial cells into the striatum of Parkinson’s patients shows promise. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study underway (from episode #7)
• Parkinson’s may improve when H. pylori infections eradicated (from episode #73)

Weblinks to:

• Genomic Pathway Approach to a Complex Disease
• Coenzyme Q10 supplementation may slow disease progression in early-stage Parkinson’s disease.

Citations (other): Depletion of CoQ10 by Statin Drugs:

• Langsjoen PH, Langsjoen AM. The clinical use of HMG CoA-reductase inhibitors and the associated depletion of coenzyme Q10. A review of animal and human publications. Biofactors 2003;18:101-11.
• Jula A, Marniemi J, Huupponen R, Virtanen A, Rastas M, Ronnemaa T. Effects of diet and simvastatin on serum lipids, insulin, and antioxidants in hypercholesterolemic men: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2002;287:598-605.

Next week’s show: Our 4th installment of Nerve University – Education, Research And Scholarship In Neurology. We’ll continue our discussion on genetics and gene therapies - their potential for diagnosing and treating a number of neurological disorders.

 

 #73: Infection - Inflammation: Calor, Dolor, Rubor, Tumor for the 21st century Neurologist. Installment #5 [28:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (734)

Infection - Inflammation: Calor, Dolor, Rubor, Tumor for the 21st century Neurologist. Installment #5

Publication Date: Jun 8th, 2007.

Focus: Stealth infections, and the possible effect that ONE of the numerous hidden invaders has on Parkinson’s disease.

The bug is Helicobacter pylori. It’s back in the limelight. And Parkinson’s pathogenesis may be eased from its eradication.

And does herpes simplex virus play a role in Alzheimer’s?

Listen and learn about other concealed infectious entities possibly cohabitating, within our bodies, and causing varying degrees of stress on our physiological systems - our “psychoneuroimmunology.”

And last but not least (on the flip side): “Filth and Felicity” - Is our obsession with having a sterile environment for daily living contributing to us humans being a bunch of “psycho-enodo-neuro-immunological” wimps?
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