Japanese Find New Treatment For Parkinson's Disease
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
Japanese researchers reported early success with genetically engineering a virus to produce dopamine in the brain, restoring motor function in five of six Parkinson's disease patients so far. The research was carried out at Jichi Medical University, which notes Japan has 120,000 Parkinson's patients. The viral gene used has an enzyme that produces dopamine and the researchers see it as a replacement for the current treatment of giving patients L-dopa, a dopamine precursor that becomes less effective as the disease progresses. (Click here for more