Need Help About a Research Paper?
A question asked by Jessica: need help about a research paper?
ok my question is:
To what extent will stem cell research help find a cure or treatment for parkinson’s disease?
what i need help is what my paragraphs will talk about. i really dont know much about stem cells or parkinson’s. i figure maybe i could do a paragraph on parkinson’s history, its symptoms, then talk about stem cells, followed by i dont know what else about stem cells. maybe the controversary of it. if you guys know any good websites i would love it. thanks in advance
Selected answer:
Answer by Mags
It is unclear at this point how much stem cell research will help with a cure for Parkinson’s. It is more likely that it will be a symptomatic treatment once the underlying problems with the current processes have been resolved.
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disease for which there is currently no cure. Parkinson’s disease causes both motor and non-motor symptoms. The earliest symptoms often appear years before the more identifiable symptoms and so are often attributed to other causes or ignored.
For many years PD was considered idiopathic in origin with only about 3% thought to be genetic. Research over the last several years has continued to increase the estimate of percentage of genetic instances. At this point the Mayo Clinic considers the genetic cases to be about 15-20%. It should be remembered that even genetic cases appear to have environmental triggers which cn include severe head trauma, toxins such as certain heavy metals, pesticides – herbicides – insecticides.
Parkinson’s can occur as young as 2 years old. From 2-20 it is called Juvenile PD. Between 21 and about 55 years it is Young Onset or Early Onset PD. These cases are often genetic. Because PD is like a disease of aging in that many of the symptoms are similar to accelerated aging, it is not surprising that the majority of cases are not diagnosed until the patient is in their late 50s to early 60s. The risk level increases avery 10 years until about 85 years.
Worldwide more men than women develop PD. It is thought that estrogen may be neuroprotective. After the onset of menopause, women develop PD at a higher rater than before menopause.
The primary symptoms are the obvious resting tremor, bradykinesia (slowness of movement), impaired balance (postural instability) stiffness/rigidity. There are many other symptoms which can occur and not all patients develop these symptoms nor do they develop them at the same time.
There are a variety of treatments but there is no cure. Treatments for the most part provide symptomatic relief although some can create additional symptoms over the years. The progression of the disease also varies from patient to patient. There is one medication which may be able to slow the progression and one nutritional supplement which might also be able to do the same thing.
It takes millions upon millions of dollars to research and develop treatments.
Stem cell therapy can take a variety of forms but has not reached a point where it can be considered anything but a shorter term treatment to reduce certain symptoms. At this point China appears to have more centers doing stem cell transplants of one specific type.
Check this website for Parkinson’s disease information:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/parkinsons_disease/detail_parkinsons_disease.htm
Check this site for stem cell information – while it might not have all the information, it will provide some basics:
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics1.asp
This link is somewhat recent news – I have not fact checked it – and until a number of years transpire without a return of symptoms, I think it can be pronounced successful. But at least you should read it.
http://www.lifenews.com/bio2751.html
You should also spend some time navigating the Michael J Fox Foundation website looking for research grants and news.
You will also find helpful information at the site below.
Whether you agree or disagree, why not leave your own thoughts below.
