paraquat – The Science of Parkinson's

Researchers are building as ever increasing amount of evidence supporting the idea that as our bodies age, there is an accumulation of cells that cease to function normally. But rather than simply dying, these ‘non-functional’ cells shut down and enter a state which is refered to as ‘senescence‘.

And scientists have also discovered that these senescent cells are not completely dormant. They are still active, but their activity can be of a rather negative flavour. And new research from the Rockefeller University suggests that these senescent cells could potentially explain certain aspects of Parkinson’s.

The good news is that a novel class of therapies are being developed to deal with senescent cells. These new drugs are called senolytics.

In today’s post, we will discuss what is meant by senescence, we will review the new data associated with Parkinson’s, and we will consider some of the interesting senolytic approaches that could be useful for PD.

This is not my living room… honest. Source: Youtube

Humans being are great collectors.

We may not all be hoarders – as in the image above – but everyone has extra baggage. Everybody has stuff they don’t need. And the ridiculous part of this equation is that some of that stuff is kept on despite the fact that it doesn’t even work properly any more.

The obvious question is:

Why do we hold on to stuff long after we don’t use it anymore?

Oh, and don’t get me wrong – I’m not talking about all that junk you have lying around in your house/shed.

No, I’m referring to all the senescent cells in your body.

Huh? What are senescent cells?

Continue reading “Sensing seriousness about senolytics” →

In your brain there are different types of cells.

Firstly there are the neurons (the prima donnas that we believe do most of the communication of information). Next there are the microglia cells, which act as the first and main line of active immune defence in the brain. There are also oligodendrocyte, that wrap protective sheets around the branches of the neurons and help them to pass signals.

And then there are astrocytes.

These are the ‘helper cells’ which maintain a comfortable environment for the neurons and aid them in their task. Recently, researchers in California reported an curious observation in the Parkinsonian brain: some astrocytes have entered an altered ‘zombie’-like state. And this might not be such a good thing.

In today’s post, we’ll review the research and discuss what it could mean – if independently replicated – for the Parkinson’s community.

Zombies. Source: wallpapersbrowse

I don’t understand the current fascination with zombies.

There are books, movies, television shows, video games. All dealing with the popular idea of dead bodies wandering the Earth terrifying people. But why the fascination? Why does this idea have such appeal to a wide portion of the populous?

I just don’t get it.

Even more of a mystery, however, is where the modern idea of the ‘zombie’ actually came from originally.

You see, no one really knows.

Huh? What do you mean?

Some people believe that the word ‘zombie’ is derived from West African languages – ndzumbi means ‘corpse’ in the Mitsogo language of Gabon, and nzambi means the ‘spirit of a dead person’ in the Kongo language. But how did a word from the African continent become embedded in our psyche?

Others associate the idea of a zombie with Haitian slaves in the 1700s who believed that dying would let them return back to lan guinée (African Guinea) in a kind of afterlife. But apparently that freedom did not apply to situations of suicide. Rather, those who took their own life would be condemned to walk the Hispaniola plantations for eternity as an undead slave. Perhaps this was the starting point for the ‘zombie’.

More recently the word ‘zonbi’ (not a typo) appeared in the Louisiana Creole and the Haitian Creole and represented a person who is killed and was then brought to life without speech or free will.

Delightful stuff for the start of a post on Parkinson’s research, huh?

But we’re going somewhere with this.

Continue reading “When the zombies are all in your head” →