synapse – The Science of Parkinson's

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Current clinical efforts at restorative medicine for neurodegeneration are still largely focused on stem cell and neurotrophic factor-based methods. Novel techniques are being preclinically proposed however, and some of them employ some radically different approaches.

An international group of researchers have recently published a report describing a means of repairing the damaged central nervous system that involves ‘gluing’ neurons together via an artificial protein.

They called this new method CPTX.

In today’s post, we will explore what this artificial protein does, what was reported in the new study, and consider how this could potentially be used for Parkinson’s.

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Source: Howtogeek

Earlier in the year I wrote a post called the 2020 wish list, where I discussed some hopes for Parkinson’s research this year. Despite everything that 2020 (annus horribilis) has thrown at us, there have been significant developments regarding Parkinson’s research and some of those wishes.

One of those hopes was the announcement of new and innovative methods for restorative techniques for Parkinson’s. At present, all of the restorative approaches in clinical trial for Parkinson’s are focused on stem cell transplantation (Click here to read a recent SoPD post describing an example of this), and it would be good to broaden the range of approaches being tested.

As a result of this particular wish, a theme here on the SoPD this year has been to write posts highlighting new restorative research as it has been published (Click here, here and here to read some examples).

In today’s post, we are going to continue that theme with an extremely radical bit of research that utterly boggled my mind.

Me after reading this report. Source: 1zoom

Be warned, this is very futuristic, blue sky, “way out there on the horizon”-kind of stuff.

But when I read this report in August, I was left stunned… and rather excited by the potential possibilities.

Sounds interesting, what was the research report about?

Continue reading “CPTX: Gluing the brain back together” →

Recently researcher from the University of Cambridge reported that an imbalance in calcium and the Parkinson’s-associated protein alpha synuclein can cause the clustering of synaptic vesicles.

What does this mean? And should we reduce our calcium intake as a result?

In today’s post, we will review the research report, consider the biology behind the findings and how it could relate to Parkinson’s, and discuss what can or should be done.

Me and Brie. Source: Wikipedia

When I turned 25, I realised that my body no longer accepted cheese.

This was a very serious problem.

You see, I still really liked cheese.

A bottle of red wine, a baguette and a chunk of brie – is there any better combination in life?

So obviously my body and I had a falling out. And yes, it got ugly. I wanted things to keep going the way they had always been, so I tried to make things interesting with new and exotic kinds of cheeses, which my body didn’t want to know about it. It rejected all of my efforts. And after a while, I gradually started resenting my body for not letting me be who I was.

We sought help. We tried interventions. But sadly, nothing worked.

And then things got really bad: My body decided that it didn’t have room in its life for yogurt, milk or even ice cream anymore (not even ice cream!!!). Basically no dairy what so ever.

There’s something’s missing in my life. Source: Morellisices

OMG. How did you survive without ice cream?

Well, I’ll tell ye – it’s been rough.

All silliness aside though, here is what I know: It is actually very common to develop a lactase deficiency as we get older – lactase being the enzyme responsible for the digestion of whole milk. In fact, about 65% of the global population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy (Source: NIH). I am not lactose intolerant (one of the few tests that I actually aced in my life), but I do have trouble digesting a particular component of dairy products – which can result in discomfort and socially embarrassing situations (one day over a drink I’ll tell you the ‘cheese fondue story’). Curiously, that mystery ingredient is also present in products that have no dairy (such as mayonnaise – it absolutely kills me).

But spare me your tears, if one is forced to drop a particular food group, dairy is not too bad (if I am ever forced to give up wine, I swear I’ll go postal).

My biggest concern when I dropped dairy, however, was “where was I going to get my daily requirements of calcium?“.

Understand that calcium is really rather important.

Why is calcium important?

Continue reading “On the importance of Calcium” →