Wednesday, April 19, 2017

A Cure for Parkinson's?
Image result for neurons in parkinson's disease vs normal

The article "A Cure for Parkinson's? Replacing Damaged Brain Cells Shows Promise" discusses how researchers found that by converting glial cells into dopamine producing cells, decreased the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. In the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease the dopamine producing cells become destroyed or damaged which leads to the motor control symptoms like tremors and balance issues. Researchers have been trying to find a way to replace or repair these dopamine cells. So, Professor Arenas and his colleagues from the Karolinska Instituet in Sweden, focused on transforming cells into dopamine producing cells. They converted glial cells, astrocytes, into dopamine producing cells. Then placed these cells into mice with Parkinson's and the mice showed less symptoms of the disease. This research allows them to possibly find a cure for a disease that many people have been waiting for,

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/316896.php

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/parkinsons-disease/basics/definition/con-20028488

3 comments:

  1. This is a awesome discovery, i know a few people who have been troubled by parkinson's disease and they tell me about their troubles, and any discovery that can help is a great improvement

    ReplyDelete
  2. This article is very interesting I found one similar with Alzheimer's disease. As more research is developed the more preventative people can be. For example new studies are going on to fix the mutation in the gene, by either snipping out or repairing it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a really interesting article. I wonder if this can cure Parkinson's in anyone or just those with the early stages of it. Take someone like Michael J. Fox for example. He has had Parkinson's for many years. Would this treatment work on him?

    ReplyDelete