ScienceDaily: Drug Slows And May Halt Parkinson's Disease
Northwestern University researchers have discovered a drug that slows -- and may even halt -- the progression of Parkinson's disease. The drug rejuvenates aging dopamine cells, whose death in the brain causes the symptoms of this devastating and widespread disease.
D. James Surmeier, the Nathan Smith Davis Professor and chair of physiology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and his team of researchers have found that isradipine, a drug widely used for hypertension and stroke, restores stressed-out dopamine neurons to their vigorous younger selves. The study is described in a feature article in the international journal Nature, which will be published on-line June 10.
Dopamine is a critical chemical messenger in the brain that affects a person's ability to direct his movements. In Parkinson's disease, the neurons that release dopamine die, causing movement to become more and more difficult.
Northwestern University researchers have discovered a drug that slows -- and may even halt -- the progression of Parkinson's disease. The drug rejuvenates aging dopamine cells, whose death in the brain causes the symptoms of this devastating and widespread disease.
D. James Surmeier, the Nathan Smith Davis Professor and chair of physiology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and his team of researchers have found that isradipine, a drug widely used for hypertension and stroke, restores stressed-out dopamine neurons to their vigorous younger selves. The study is described in a feature article in the international journal Nature, which will be published on-line June 10.
Dopamine is a critical chemical messenger in the brain that affects a person's ability to direct his movements. In Parkinson's disease, the neurons that release dopamine die, causing movement to become more and more difficult.
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