A question asked by Christine: Can stem cells be a cure/treatment for Parkinson’s disease AS OF NOW?
I have an essay due tom on parkinson’s disease and stem cells but the the info. I’ve found online contradicts each other. some are saying that there is a cure and some are saying there isn’t. if there are cures/treatments could you explain them or give me a source where you found them? thank you :)
@Mags: thank you so much! i’ll be sure to use your sources and i find it interesting that after so much time and money and work being put into stem cell research a real cure for PD isn’t found yet. i actually havent read about what happened in China but if it is a controversial and political issue like you said, I should probably not include that in my essay with a limit of 1000 words. thank you again

Most comprehensive answer:

Answer by Mags
The real proof is not in yet on Stem Cells as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. There are several claims and one in particular is of interest.

Dr Michael Levesque at Neurogeneration says that they have indeed successfully transplanted adult neural stem cells to reverse the progression of Parkinson’s disease. I happen to like the discussions at NeuroTalk so here’s one link:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread78167.html

Go directly to the PDF report for the details:

http://www.neurogeneration.com/pdf/Levesque-MS.pdf

On page 9 you will see one of the problems: after 4-5 years historically there has been regression in cases which appeared to be successful. This is one reason that this transplant can only be called a treatment. There are plenty of people who are willing to face the possible risks of this surgery for 3 or 4 good/normal years.

I’m sure you have read about the stem cell procedures in China. I’m not linking to them because there is a serious question about the procedure and protocol. There is a dual process in effect and it may be more of the first process which is yielding results. There is no data past year 4 at this time, which suggests that the treatments are reversing.

The next thing I would like to mention is that after years of failures, partial successes and then reversal, it was finally recognized that they had failed to consider serotonin in the equation.

Parkinson’s disease is very much about balance. The loss of homeostasis in brain chemistry, the interaction and relationship of various brain chemicals. the loss of balance between youth and aging with a similar process within the dopamine neurons. Not to mention the loss of balance in the disease as acetylcholine tenses muscles and declining dopamine cannot transmit the relax message to muscles. And of course the actual balance difficulties of body vs gravity.

Don’t forget to read the FAQs at NIH:

http://stemcells.nih.gov/StemCells/Templates/StemCellContentPage.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRNODEGUID=%7bA604DCCE-2E5F-4395-8954-FCE1C05BECED%7d&NRORIGINALURL=%2finfo%2ffaqs%2easp&NRCACHEHINT=NoModifyGuest#parkinsons

The therapy is still experimental but has potential.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19715418

Since there is stem cell surgery being done in Germany and in the UK among other countries, here is a simpler explanation:

http://www.eurostemcell.org/faq/what-parkinsons-disease-and-can-stem-cells-help

This is a recent report on one PwP who had the surgery in Germany in 2010. The procedure is described – again using adult stem cells.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/XCell-Center/StemCellParkinsons/prweb4929814.htm

Do you know better? Why not leave your own answer in the comments below!

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