Tag: The Science of Parkinson’s disease

Information about Parkinson’s disease provided by scientists doing the research. Weekly news updates on what is happening in science related to Parkinson’s disease, and the opportunity to ask questions and get answers.

James: His legacy (Part 4)

~ Simon ~ 1 Comment

On Tuesday 21st December, 1824, James Parkinson passed away in his home – two days after suffering a stroke.

It was the end of an amazing and extremely productive life.

In this post about James Parkinson – the final in the series of four observing the 200th anniversary of his first observation of Parkinson’s disease – we look at what happened following his death, and reflect on his overall legacy.

St Leonard’s church in Hoxton, London – James’ church

At the end of the third post on the life of James Parkinson (Click here to read that post), the Battle of Waterloo had just occurred and James was publishing the last of his writings.

One of the last major events in the life of James Parkinson occurred in 1823, when James was awarded the Royal College of Surgeons’ first Gold Medal.

Understand that this was a big deal.

The college had established the award way back in 1802 for “distinguished labours, researches and discoveries”. But it took them a full 21 years to find anyone that they thought worthy enough to be the first recipient.

And that first recipient: one James Parkinson

This event, however, represents very nicely how the legacy of James has changed over time. While the world currently associates James Parkinson with a neurological condition that he first described in 1817, the Royal College of Surgeons awarded him their first gold medal not for any of his medical publications, but rather for his “splendid Work on Organic Remains”.

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Source: Lindahall

As I have written before, James was a bit of a rockstar to the geological/palaeontology community. His writings on what he called his “favourite science”, had earned him an international reputation and one has to wonder how he would feel now if he knew that his reputation lies elsewhere.

As JP aficionado Dr Cherry Lewis once wrote: history is fickle.

Continue reading “James: His legacy (Part 4)” →

Non-invasive gene therapy: “You never monkey with the truth”

~ Simon ~ 5 Comments

Gene therapy involves treating medical conditions at the level of DNA – that is, altering or enhancing the genetic code inside cells to provide therapeutic benefits rather than simply administering drugs. Usually this approach utilises specially engineered viruses to deliver the new DNA to particular cells in the body.

For Parkinson’s, gene therapy techniques have all involved direct injections of these engineered viruses into the brain – a procedure that requires brain surgery. This year, however, we have seen the EXTREMELY rapid development of a non-invasive approach to gene therapy for neurological condition, which could ultimately see viruses being injected in the arm and then travelling up to the brain where they will infect just the desired population of cells.

Last week, however, this approach hit a rather significant obstacle.

In today’s post, we will have a look at this gene therapy technology and review the new research that may slow down efforts to use this approach to help to cure Parkinson’s.

Gene therapy. Source: rdmag

When you get sick, the usual solution is to visit your doctor.

They will prescribe a medication for you to take, and then all things going well (fingers crossed/knock on wood) you will start to feel better. It is a rather simple and straight forward process, and it has largely worked well for most of us for quite some time.

As the overall population has started to live longer, however, we have begun to see more and more chronic conditions which require long-term treatment regimes. The “long-term” aspect of this means that some people are regularly taking medication as part of their daily lives. In many cases, these medications are taken multiple times per day.

A good example of this is Levodopa (also known as Sinemet or Madopar) which is the most common treatment for the chronic condition of Parkinson’s disease.

When you swallow your Levodopa pill, it is broken down in the gut, absorbed through the wall of the intestines, transported to the brain via our blood system, where it is converted into the chemical dopamine – the chemical that is lost in Parkinson’s disease. This conversion of Levodopa increases the levels of dopamine in your brain, which helps to alleviate the motor issues associated with Parkinson’s disease.

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Levodopa. Source: Drugs

This pill form of treating a disease is only a temporary solution though. People with Parkinson’s – like other chronic conditions – need to take multiple tablets of Levodopa every day to keep their motor features under control. And long term this approach can result in other complications, such as Levodopa-induced dyskinesias in the case of Parkinson’s.

Yeah, but is there a better approach?

Continue reading “Non-invasive gene therapy: “You never monkey with the truth”” →

CRISPR-Cas9: “New CRISPY Parkinson’s research”

~ Simon ~ 16 Comments

Recently a Parkinson’s-associated research report was published that was the first of many to come.

It involves the use of a genetic screening experiment that incorporates new technology called ‘CRISPR’.

There is an absolute tidal wave of CRISPR-related Parkinson’s disease research coming down the pipe towards us, and it is important that the Parkinson’s community understands how this powerful technology works.

In today’s post we will look at what the CRISPR technology is, how it works, what the new research report actually reported, and discuss how this technology can be used to tackle a condition like Parkinson’s.

Me and my mother (and yes, the image is to scale). Source: Openclipart

My mother: Simon, what is all this new ‘crispy’ research for Parkinson’s I heard about on the news?

Me: Huh? (I was not really paying attention to the question. Terrible to ignore one’s mother I know, but what can I say – I am the black sheep of the family)

My mother: Yes, something about ‘crispy’ and Parkinson’s.

Me: Oh! You mean CRISPR. Yeah, it’s really cool stuff.

My mother: Ok, well, can you explain it all to me please, this ‘Crisper’ stuff?

Me: Absolutely.

CRISPR.101 (or CRISPR for beginners)

In almost every cell of your body, there is a nucleus.

It is the command centre for the cell – issuing orders and receiving information concerning everything going on inside and around the cell. The nucleus is also a storage bank for the genetic blueprint that provides most of the instructions for making a physical copy of you. Those grand plans are kept bundled up in 23 pairs of chromosomes, which are densely coiled strings of a molecule called Deoxyribonucleic acid (or DNA).

DNA’s place inside the cell. Source: Kids.Britannica

Continue reading “CRISPR-Cas9: “New CRISPY Parkinson’s research”” →

Food for thought!

~ Simon ~ 18 Comments

They say that “we are what we eat”, and food can certainly have a major impact on health and wellbeing.

Recently, a research report has been published that looks into the topic of food in the context of Parkinson’s disease.

And the results are interesting.

In today’s post we will outline the new research, discuss the results, and what they mean for people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Seattle. Source: Wikipedia

Established in 1978, Bastyr University is an alternative medicines institute.

The original campus (Bastyr now has a second campus in San Diego, California) is tucked into the idyllic forested area of Saint Edward State Park on the edge of Lake Washington, just north-east of downtown Seattle (Washington).

Source: Bastyr

Hang on a moment – ‘alternative medicines’?

While I can understand that some readers may immediately question why ‘alternative medicines’ are being mentioned on the “Science” of Parkinson’s disease website, here at the SoPD HQ we entertain any and all ideas with regards to Parkinson’s disease. And we are certainly open to any data that may be of interest to the Parkinson’s community.

Particularly, when that data comes from this individual:

Source: Bastyr

This is Dr Laurie Mischley. She’s awesome.

She is an Associate Clinical Investigator at Bastyr University, a guru when it comes to nutrition, and our first port of call when we field questions regarding Parkinson’s disease and diet. You can see her in action in this video (recommended viewing for those with Parkinson’s disease and interested in the topic of diet/nutrition):

https://vimeo.com/191664871

Importantly, Dr Mischley is also responsible for most of the clinical study data that we have on Acetylcysteine (also known as N-acetylcysteine or simply NAC) in Parkinson’s disease (Click here to read more about this).

And she is currently co-ordinating the “Complementary & Alternative Medicine Care in Parkinson’s Disease” (CAM Care in PD) study, which is attempting to ‘collect as much data as possible over a five-year period with the hope of finding dietary and lifestyle factors associated with a slower disease progression’. The study is still recruiting and I would encourage readers to take time to enrol in the study and fill in the survey (Click here to learn more).

This ongoing CAM study (and Dr Mischley’s efforts) has recently borne fruit that will be of real interest to the Parkinson’s community. It is a research report that reviews dietary and nutritional supplemental factors that can impact Parkinson’s disease progression.

This is the study here:

Continue reading “Food for thought!” →

Hey DJ, I-so-sit-rate!

~ Simon ~ 3 Comments

The title of this post probably reads like the mad, drug-fuelled scream of a drunk Saturday night party animal, but the elements of it may be VERY important for a particular kind of Parkinson’s disease.

Mutations in a gene called DJ-1 can cause an early onset form of Parkinson’s disease. The protein of DJ-1 plays an important role in how cells handle oxidative stress – or the increase in damaging free radicals (explained below).

This week researchers announced that they have found an interesting new therapeutic target for people with DJ-1 associated Parkinson’s disease: A chemical called Isocitrate.

In this post, we will discuss what DJ-1 is involved with Parkinson’s disease, how isocitrate helps the situation, and what the results of new research mean for future therapeutic strategies.

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Source: Listchallenge

In 2017, we are not only observing the 200 year anniversary of the first description of Parkinson’s disease (by one Mr James Parkinson), but also the 20th anniversary of the discovery of the first genetic variation associated with the condition (Click here to read more about that). Our understanding of the genetics of Parkinson’s disease since 1997, has revolutionised the way we look at Parkinson’s disease and opened new doors that have aided us in our understanding.

During the last 20 years, we have identified numerous sections of DNA (these regions are called genes) where small errors in the genetic coding (mutations or variants) can result in an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. As the graph below indicates, mutations in some of these genes are very rare, but infer a very high risk, while others are quite common but have a low risk of Parkinson’s disease.

The genetics of PD. Source: Journal of Parkinson’s disease

Some of the genetic mutation need to be provided by both the parents for Parkinson’s to develop (an ‘autosomal recessive‘ mutation – the yellow circles in the graph above); while in other cases the genetic variant needs only to be provided by one of the parents (an ‘autosomal dominant’ mutation – the blue circles). Many of the genetic mutations are very common and simply considered a region of increased risk (green circles).

Importantly, all of these genes provide the instructions for making a protein – which are the functional parts in a cell. And each of these proteins have specific roles in biological processes. These functions tell us a little bit about how Parkinson’s disease may be working. Each of them is a piece of the jigsaw puzzle that we are trying to finish. As you can see in the image below, many of the genes mentioned in the graph above give rise to proteins that are involved in different parts of the process of autophagy – or the waste disposal system of the cell. You may notice that some proteins, like SCNA (otherwise known as alpha synuclein), are involved in multiple steps in this process.

The process of autophagy. Source: Nature

In today’s post we are going to look at new research regarding just one of these genes/proteins. It is called DJ-1, also known as Parkinson disease protein 7 (or PARK7).

What is DJ-1?

Continue reading “Hey DJ, I-so-sit-rate!” →

Self monitoring: there’s something in your eye

~ Simon ~ 3 Comments

Self tracking/monitoring has become a popular habit for the general population with the introduction of products like Fitbit and Apple watch.

It is particularly useful for groups like the Parkinson’s community though, who are tired of having just one hour per year of assessments with their neurologist.

In today’s post, we will look at some new tracking/monitoring technologies that are being developed that could have important implications for not only how we assess Parkinson’s disease, but also for how we treat it.


Homo deus. Source: RealClearLife

I have recently finished reading ‘Homo Deus‘ by Yuval Noah Harari – the excellent follow-up to his previous book ‘Sapiens‘ (which is an absolute MUST READ!). The more recent book provides an utterly fascinating explanation of how we have come to be where we will be in the future (if that makes any sense).

In the final few chapters, Harari discusses many of the technologies that are currently under development which will change the world we live in (with a lot of interesting and cautionary sections on artificial intelligence – the machines that will know vastly more about us than we know about ourselves).

Of particular interest in this part of the book was a section on the Google-Novartis smart lens.

What is the Google-Novartis smart lens?

In 2014, a company called Alcon, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Novartis formed a collaboration with the Google offshoot Verily Life Sciences that would focus on developing smart lens.

The initial project is rather ambitious: develop and take to the clinic a glucose-sensing contact lens for people with diabetes. The idea has been particularly championed by Google founder Sergey Brin (a prominent figure within the Parkinson’s community with his significant contributions to Parkinson’s research each year).

People with diabetes have to keep pricking their finger over the course of a day in order to check the levels of insulin in their blood. A less laborious approach would be welcomed by the diabetic world (an estimated 415 million people living with diabetes in the world).

This is what the lens may eventually look like:

Continue reading “Self monitoring: there’s something in your eye” →

Lrrking in low orbit

~ Simon ~ 8 Comments

Last Monday, a SpaceX rocket lifted off from the Florida peninsular on route to the International Space Station.

On board that craft was an experiment that could have big implications for Parkinson’s disease. It involves a Parkinson’s-associated protein called Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (or LRRK2).

In today’s post, we will discuss why we needed to send this protein into orbit.

The International Space Station. Source: NASA

When you look up at the sky tonight – if you look for long enough – you may well see a bright little object hurtling across the sky (Click here to learn more about how to track the International Space Station). Know that inside that bright little object passing over you there is currently some Parkinson’s disease-related research being conducted.

What is the International Space Station?

The International Space Station (or the ISS) is the largest human-made object that we have ever put into space. It is so big in fact that you can see it with the naked eye from Earth.

(How’s that for exciting viewing?)

The current space station is 73.3 metres (240 feet) long and 44.5 metres (146 feet) wide, weighing approximately 420 tonnes (924,740 lb), and it has been continuously occupied for 16 years and 289 days, making it the longest continuous human presence in low Earth orbit. The ISS travels at a speed of 7.67 km/second, maintains an altitude of between 330 and 435 km (205 and 270 mi), and completes 15.54 orbits per day (it has made over 102,000 orbits!).

The size of the the ISS compared to a Boeing Jumbo jet. Source: Reddit

First approved by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, it was not until November 1998 that the first components of the International space station were first launched into orbit. 36 shuttle flights were made to help build the station. The first crew members took up residence on the 2nd November 2000, and the station was completed in 2011. There is always 6 crew members on board – the current team are Expedition 52 – and it has been visited by 220 astronauts, cosmonauts and space tourists from 17 different nations since the project began.

Oh yeah, and if you want to see what it looks like on board the ISS, in 2015 the European Space Agency provided an interactive tour and earlier this year Google Maps added an interactive tour of the ISS.

Continue reading “Lrrking in low orbit” →

Dementia with Lewy Bodies: New recommendations

~ Simon ~ 9 Comments

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Last year – two years after actor Robin Williams died – his wife Susan Schneider Williams wrote an essay entitled The terrorist inside my husband’s head, published in the journal Neurology.

It is a heartfelt/heartbreaking insight into the actor’s final years. It also highlights the plight of many who are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but experience an array of additional symptoms that leave them feeling that something else is actually wrong.

Today’s post is all about Dementia with Lewy bodies (or DLB). In particular, we will review the latest refinements and recommendations of the Dementia with Lewy Bodies Consortium, regarding the clinical and pathologic diagnosis of DLB.

robin-williams

Robin Williams. Source: Quotesgram

On the 28th May of 2014, the actor Robin Williams was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

At the time, he had a slight tremor in his left hand, a slow shuffling gait and mask-like face – some of the classical features of Parkinson’s disease.

According to his wife, the diagnosis gave the symptoms Robin had been experiencing a name. And this brought her a sense of relief and comfort. Now they could do something about the problem. Better to know what you are dealing with rather than be left unsure and asking questions.

But Mr Williams sensed that something else was wrong, and he was left unsure and asking questions. While filming the movie Night at the Museum 3, Williams experienced panic attacks and regularly forgot his lines. He kept asking the doctors “Do I have Alzheimer’s? Dementia? Am I schizophrenic?”

Williams took his own life on the 11th August 2014, and the world mourned the tragic loss of a uniquely talented performer.

Source: WSJ

When the autopsy report came back from the coroner, however, it indicated that the actor had been misdiagnosed.

He didn’t have Parkinson’s disease.

What he actually had was Dementia with Lewy bodies (or DLB).

What is Dementia with Lewy bodies?

Continue reading “Dementia with Lewy Bodies: New recommendations” →

DPP-4: Not a Star Wars character

~ Simon ~ 9 Comments

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Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (or DPP-4) is an enzyme that breaks down the protein (GLP-1) that stimulates insulin release in your body. 

Inhibitors of DPP-4 are used in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, because they help increase insulin levels in the body.

Recently some Swedish researchers noticed something curious about DPP-4 inhibitors: They appear to reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

In today’s post, we will review what DPP-4 inhibitors do and look at how this could be reducing the risk of Parkinson’s disease.

januvia

Sitagliptin. Source: Diabetesmedicine

Last year an interesting research report about a class of medications that could possibly reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease was published in the journal Movement disorders:

SWeds

Title: Reduced incidence of Parkinson’s disease after dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors-A nationwide case-control study.
Authors: Svenningsson P, Wirdefeldt K, Yin L, Fang F, Markaki I, Efendic S, Ludvigsson JF.
Journal: Movement Disorders 2016 Jul 19.
PMID: 27431803

In this study, the investigators used the Swedish Patient Register, to find the medical records of 980 people who were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease but also had type 2 diabetes. Importantly, all of the subjects had been treated with Type 2 diabetes medication for at least 6 months prior to the date of Parkinson’s being diagnosed.

For comparative sake, they selected 5 controls (non-Parkinsonian) with Type 2 diabetes (n = 4,900) for each of their Parkinsonian+diabetes subjects. They next looked at whether GLP-1R agonists (such as Exenatide), Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (or DPP-4) inhibitors, or any other oral Type 2 diabetic medication can influence the incidence of Parkinson’s disease.

Now, if all things are considered equal, then when looking at each diabetes medication there should be 1 person in the Parkinson’s disease + Type 2 diabetes for every 5 people in the Type 2 diabetes control group taking each medication right? That is because there are almost 1000 people in the first group and 5000 in the second group.

But this is not what the researchers found.

Continue reading “DPP-4: Not a Star Wars character” →

Exenatide: An editorial

~ Simon ~ 25 Comments

editorial

In my previous post, we briefly reviewed the results of the phase II double-blind, randomised clinical trial of Exenatide in Parkinson’s disease. The study indicates a statistically significant effect on motor symptom scores after being treated with the drug.

Over the last few days, there have been many discussions about the results, what they mean for the Parkinson’s community, and where things go from here, which have led to further questions.

In this post I would like to address several matters that have arisen which I did not discuss in the previous post, but that I believe are important.

bydureon

I found out about the Exenatide announcement – via whispers online – on the afternoon of the release. And it was in a mad rush when I got home that night that I wrote up the post explaining what Exenatide is. I published the post the following evening however because I could not access the research report from home (seriously guys, biggest finding in a long time and it’s not OPEN ACCESS?!?!?) and I had to wait until I got to work the next day to actually view the publication.

I was not really happy with the rushed effort though and decided to follow up that post. In addition, there has been A LOT of discussion about the results over the weekend and I thought it might be good to bring aspects of those different discussion together here. The individual topics are listed below, in no particular order of importance:

1. Size of the effect

There are two considerations here.

Firstly, there have been many comments about the actual size of the effect in the results of the study itself. When people have taken a deeper look at the findings, they have come back with questions regarding those findings.

And second, there have also been some comments about the size of the effect that this result has already had on the Parkinson’s community, which has been considerable (and possibly disproportionate to the actual result).

The size of the effect in the results

The results of the study suggested that Exenatide had a positive effect on the motor-related symptoms of Parkinson’s over the course of the 60 week trial. This is what the published report says, it is also what all of the media headlines have said, and it sounds really great right?

The main point folks keep raising, however, is that the actual size of the positive effect is limited to just the motor features of Parkinson’s disease. If one ignores the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor scores and focuses on the secondary measures, there isn’t much to talk about. In fact, there were no statistically significant differences in any of the secondary outcome measures. These included:

Continue reading “Exenatide: An editorial” →