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.

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muhammad ali speacking about parkinson disease
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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Best answer:

Answer by Andrew T
Causes of parkinsons are unknown, believed to possibly be genetic. Check out webmd.com and you will find much more info than I can give you. If it doesn’t appear to match your dad’s symptoms, look up Huntingtons disease.

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A question asked by sokrates: Have you heard about the new way to ward off Parkinson’s Disease?
A new study now says that tobacco smokers are less likely to have Parkinson’s disease. And it does not matter whether one smokes cigars, cigarettes or a pipe.

My chosen answer:

Answer by randall flag
I don’t believe it. For two simple reasons, one is that the different types of tobacco have very different compositions, and if any kind of smoking helps, there would have to be a common substance that would help. Two, smoking those three types of tobacco is very different, for example cigar smoke is not inhaled, unlike cigarette. This combined with the previous reason makes it very unlikely that there is a single common element that all three can give to your body to reduce Parkinson’s. The chances are just too slim. It feels like propaganda to me.

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Question posed by yellowcrayon: What is there to know about Parkinson’s Disease?
I’m doing a report on it for school and i have a lot of facts on it but im asking in case there is more i need to know. We have to write acting like were them so that we can see how it is in their shoes and then we have to the the diagnosis and treatments/coping with the disease.
Anyone have any help to give?

Selected answer:

Answer by G B
Log onto youtube and do a searh for parkinsons disease. There are many short clips there of people with PD, some worse than others, but, if you watch enough of them you will get the idea.

Whether you agree or disagree, why not leave your own thoughts below.

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Question posed by CAfriend: NBC dateline- Parkinson’s disease (Sunday)talked about treatment 4 swallowing. Can you help me find info.?
This program was on Sunday 4/23/06 with the actor Michael J. Fox who has Parkinson’s disease. An instrument was shown that can strenghten the muscles in the throat to help patient’s swallow better. Difficulty swallowing can be a symptom of PD.

The No 1 answer:

Answer by wythingco
Go to; http://www.nbcdateline.com

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A question from Julie P: What are 3 important things we need to know about Parkinson’s Disease?
im doing a project on Parkinson’s Disease in Health 2 and in one of my slides i need to put 3 important things about that disease but i cant find any can you please help me find some.

Best answer:

Answer by jandy
go to nih.gov or cdc.gov + Parkinson’s, might try geneticandrarediseases.org gard.org

really? need the right doctor, confirmed diagnosis and the right treatment, the earlier the better, this goes for all diseases.

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A question from ♀ BS ♀: What are some things I should know about Parkinson’s Disease?
My dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease today. Not that I don’t know the basics of it, but I wondered if anyone here has had relatives or friends close to you who’ve been diagnosed with it. What should we expect? Do you have any personal stories you can share about what living with someone with Parkinson’s is like?

Thanks in advance.

The top answer:

Answer by Max Clarkso
My grandmother has it.
It makes her very irritable and that’s pretty much it.
The shaking depends on the severity. She is not too bad and it stops occasionally.
Everything should be okay so don’t worry too much. Good luck!

If you know better then please let us know below.

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Question posed by 7 W: Articles about Parkinson’s Disease caused by heavy metals?
My husband has Parkinson’s Disease. He works with Lead. Both Parkinson’s and Lead Poisoning have similar symptoms so we are looking for any articles that associate them together or specifically say what heavy metals actually can cause Parkinson’s Disease.
Are there any MD’s that want to give their opinions about this, it would be appreciated.

Selected answer:

Answer by Deborah
I don’t have any articles but i was a teacher in a mining town 30 years ago where there was a copper and lead stack belching out fumes all day every day. I’m convinced it was the trigger for my Parkinson’s.

If you know better then please let us know below.

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Question by Shariputra: Is there something odd about parkinson’s disease/treatment ?
People have been desperately trying to alert that vitamin B6 is helpful.

(People in Japan sent home from hospital because nothing more could be done for them, began to recover when they ate food containing vitamin B6.)

Yet a website says
“Supplements containing vitamin B6 should be avoided by patients taking levodopa.”

http://www.pharmj.com/noticeboard/tips/dietary/10parkinsons.html

Best answer:

Answer by Froggies angel
I used to take a mega b vitamin and a vitamin C (berocca) with added b vitamins for womens monthly problems, it used to help me a lot so I hope I did the right thing, am now on a womens multi and folate tablet, I hope they are doing me good and not damage, you never really know until years of usage gives you illness signs

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