Teach the Brain Forums

March 2, 2006
Good Day,
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative movement disorder disease with no cure at the present, but good progress is being made in treating the symptoms. Now what does that mean....treat the symptom....well actually it means most everything to a person with PD.

Essentially PD is the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra...which is part of the basal ganglia area. It is most hard to diagnose since presently most of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra must die before a good clinical dx is made...and then what happens....well you keep on treating the symptoms. Treating the symptoms in this case does not mean something like a placebo....the perscriptive drugs like dopamine agonists can help control many of your symptoms...however...nothing is forever...you do have a wearing off effect of the dopamine agonist, but the good thing is that higher doses can be administered without too many side effects...[does not work for everyone].

Quality of life can be extended and medications prior to the BIG GUN....Leva Dopa which does pass the blood brain barrier is many time held for later when stretching out the quality of life....that is to say...that L'Dopa works very well most of the time, but also has a wearing off effect....etc. etc. Great progress is being made in medications and technology support for PD...and a cure is within reach....most likely this decade if everything goes accordingly.
Enjoy life...
Best,
Rob

March 4, 2006

Degeneration of the brain can refer to many parts of the brain, yet let us zero in on neurons, glial cells and the all important synapses. The brain is replete with this cells and synapses. This is a salient communication router that either is affected by many things ie, autoimmune syst., tau, beta amyoloid, tangles and strangulation by it's own [previous] efficacious communication system. Take a look at this hyperlink for MS that is very clearn what is happening to the degeneration of myelin and therefore not allowing the communication to even get out of the gate. This hyperlink has been reviewed before yet; let us reflect upon it again.

Please notice the contrast of a healthy neuronal system and an unhealthy neuronal system...notice even that the provider or myelin to the axon, the oligo cell (glial cell) is attacked by disease and the neuronal system is esstentially shut down.
URL:http://www.myelin.org/
Be well,
Rob

March 5, 2006
Morning,
Retrieved from the internet on March 2, 2006 this particular url shows the healthy brain and the alzheimer's disease encroachment. Highly recommended.
Best,
Rob Url: http://www.alz.org/brain/01.asp

March 7, 2006

Morning Retrieved 3-7-06 from the internet is news from Science.....
Good read...
Rob URL: Science News Online
Week of March 4, 2006; Vol. 169, No. 9

Do Over: New MS drug may be safe after all
Nathan Seppa

An experimental drug for multiple sclerosis (MS) that was approved in 2004, then abruptly yanked off shelves last year because of safety concerns, may get a second chance.

Two studies show that the drug can curb MS symptoms and slow progression of the autoimmune disease over 2 years, the longest tests of this drug to date. A third investigation finds no further cases of the often-fatal complication that sidetracked the drug last year, beyond the three patients who fell ill at that time. All three papers appear in the March 2 New England Journal of Medicine.

The drug, natalizumab, was pulled 4 months after its approval by the Food and Drug Administration. Three patients in clinical trials had developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare nervous system disorder caused by a virus that attacks people with suppressed immunity. The withdrawal came after doctors had written roughly 7,000 prescriptions for natalizumab for MS, rheumatoid arthritis, and an intestinal ailment called Crohn's disease. The drug was marketed as Tysabri by Biogen Idec of Cambridge, Mass., and Elan Corp. of Dublin, which both funded the new studies testing the drug's effectiveness.

The drug combats MS by binding to a protein called alpha-4 integrin on the surface of white blood cells, interfering with their entry into the brain. This thwarts the brain inflammation and nerve damage that these immune system cells trigger, says neurologist Richard A. Rudick of the Cleveland Clinic.

Starting in 2001, Rudick's U.S. team randomly assigned patients to get a monthly infusion of either natalizumab or a placebo. In 2002, researchers in the Netherlands began a similar trial. Together, these tests included 1,859 MS patients. In the U.S. study, all patients also received interferon-beta 1a, a current MS drug.

Over 2 years, the annual relapse rate in patients getting natalizumab was one-third or less in both studies, compared with more than three-fourths among patients getting a placebo.

Natalizumab's relapse suppression "was more robust than that for currently available drugs," says Chris H. Polman, a neurologist at Vrije University Medical Center in Amsterdam.

Magnetic resonance imaging showed that patients in the trials getting natalizumab were less likely to develop MS-type brain lesions than were those getting a placebo or a placebo plus interferon-beta 1a.

In the third study, researchers at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md., looked for signs of the virus that causes PML in 3,116 people who had taken natalizumab as part of the two new MS trials and several other trials.

No one aside from the three patients already identified had the disease, says virologist Eugene O. Major of the institute. The new findings indicate that the risk of developing PML while using natalizumab is roughly 1 in 1,000, he says.

All three patients who developed PML were taking natalizumab with other drugs and might have had overly suppressed immune systems, says Allan H. Ropper, a neurologist at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston. Natalizumab alone "seems fairly safe, and it's quite potent," he says.

Some doubts persist, however. Neurologist Annette Langer-Gould of Stanford University says that even the 1-in-1,000 risk of PML "seems to outweigh the benefits" that natalizumab would provide many patients. Langer-Gould says that she would consider giving the drug only to MS patients "who are imminently at risk of developing severe disability ... and have failed standard therapies."



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References:

Polman, C.H., et al. 2006. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of natalizumab for relapsing multiple sclerosis. New England Journal of Medicine 354(March 2):899-910. Abstract available at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/354/9/899.

Rudick, R.A., et al. 2006. Natalizumab plus interferon beta-1a for relapsing multiple sclerosis. New England Journal of Medicine 354(March 2):911-923. Abstract available at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/354

March 12, 2006

Good Morning,

I would like all of us to take a look see at this particular url retrieved from the internet March 12, 2006. It has to do with movement disorders which in many many cases resides in the basal ganglia of the human.
Be well,
Rob URL: http://www.movementdisorders.org/

March 20, 2006

Good Morning

Very interesting url that I retrieved from the internet today. URL: http://www.dana.org/brainweb/
Best,
Rob

March 24,2004

Good Morning,

Alzheimer's disease is cruel.....Please take a look at 2005 action taken to subdue....URL retrieved today from the internet.
Warmest Regards,
Rob URL: http://www.alz.org/Research/overview.asp

March 29, 2006

Good Morning,
We are getting closer every day to finding out the answer to MS. Url retrieved today from the internet show hour the autoimmune system can turn on it's...in this case microgilia......
Best,
Rob Url: http://www.biopsychology.com/index.php?d...h&x=24&y=9

April 2, 2006

Good Evening ....Retrieved this evening from the internet an excellent video(s) of Parkinson's Disease and the caregiver.....Remember that current thought still places the dopaminergic neuron death in the substantia nigra of the brain....as a primary source of difficulty in Parkinson's Disease.
URL: http://abcnews.healthology.com/hybrid-pl...at&spg=SCH
Rob

April 4, 2006

Good Evening,

When we go for physicals and/or have our blood tested, we usually expect the tests to be proforma. Yet, as one ages iron is an important element....well actually it is an important element regardless, but with Restless Leg Syndrome which seems to look a great deal like Parkinson's disease is not Parkinson's disease as of this date. One of the prime symptoms of Restless Leg Syndrome is a dearth of iron being produced by the body....and many times the iron is heavily perscribed as a needed supplement. The medication perscribed for Restless Leg Syndrome can be and many times is the dopaminergic agonist as per Parkinson's Disease. I retrieved this url tonight from the internet and was very interested in the topic of iron as we age...etc. Good read!!!!!!
Best,
Rob URL:http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v5/n11...302055DC62

segarama Wrote:April 4, 2006

Good Evening,

When we go for physicals and/or have our blood tested, we usually expect the tests to be proforma. Yet, as one ages iron is an important element....well actually it is an important element regardless, but with Restless Leg Syndrome which seems to look a great deal like Parkinson's disease is not Parkinson's disease as of this date. One of the prime symptoms of Restless Leg Syndrome is a dearth of iron being produced by the body....and many times the iron is heavily perscribed as a needed supplement. The medication perscribed for Restless Leg Syndrome can be and many times is the dopaminergic agonist as per Parkinson's Disease. I retrieved this url tonight from the internet and was very interested in the topic of iron as we age...etc. Good read!!!!!!
Best,
Rob URL:http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v5/n11...302055DC62

________________________________
June 13, 2006
Good morning
Even though we know that the major cause of Parkinson's Disease is the dying of dopaminergeric neurons in the substantia nigra pars exacta, however this is just one of the deleterious occurances that add to this degenerative brain disease. Retrieved today from the internet is an interesting url about free radicals and it's affect on Parkinson's Disease. URL: http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/int...search.cfm
Be well,
Rob

June 13, 2006
Good morning

Retrieved today from the internet: Url: http://www.parkinson.org/site/pp.asp?c=9...&b=1160273
Best,
Rob

July 9, 2006

Glial cells are important for good and bad !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Quote:
Originally Posted by segarama
June 2, 2006

Good evening
Continued study on the glial cell and running it through other neuro-biological material tends to give a great deal of credence to further success in steps toward curing neurodegenerative diseases. Stem cells are also being discovered in this cell..the type of stem cell that at first glance is a match for some amelioration of movement disorders.
Retrieved from the internet today: URL: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/c...94082/ABSTRACT
Be well,
Rob

_______________________________
July 9, 2006
Good Evening

It is very important that all students of science and education become acquainted with the glial cell. It has be in the shaddows of the neuron for many years....It still is....however...neuroscienctists must keep a steady course when dealing with educators who sometimes dismiss ideas very quickly and very very rudely. If you believe in something as I do the propective research of the Glial cell then stick with it.....it is fun to be alone with your own opinion....Retrieved from the internet today....
Please read about the glial cell....
URL: http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerend...id=1226318
Bye,
Rob

July 12, 2006

Keep your eye on alpha synuclein when discussing Parkinson's Disease. Hyperlink provided and URL retrieved today.

Good reading: URL: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v40...394a0.html
URL: http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abs...uppl_4/S24
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query...med_docsum

Best,
Rob

September 22, 2006

:anyone: Very good current articles on Parkinson's Disease. Retrieved from the internet today. The last time I wrote to you was about alpha synuclein...and it is right on target. One of these articles specifically address the slowing down the Parkinson's Disease with the blocking of Tumor Necrosis Factor which seems to affect the dopaminergic neurons death in the substantia nigra....please be sure to look at this article in particular... URL: http://www.nwpf.org/articles.asp?id=1874
Hope is there.....URL: http://www.nwpf.org/searchresults.asp
Rob:yes:

September 22, 2006

URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...231420.htm
URL: http://www.nwpf.org/articles.asp?id=1874
Great progress is moving forward....Harvard University is also announcing the use of embryonic stem cells on the cutting edge of trials for severe childhood diseases....and degenerative diseases.....We are ready to talk about stem cells.

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September 23, 2006

Stems cells on the move!!!!! Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

This particular url was retrieved today. If you are really really interested in the status of the application of embryonic stem cells for children's diseases and degenerative diseases that presently have no cure, you do want to take time to read the article and listen to the audio tape enclosed in the url: [press conference] It is long but very updating. URL: http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/dail...mcell.html

What is your response to this article or tape [press conference]?


Rob::yes:

March 10, 2007
Good day!:yes:

In Octorber 2006 the International Movement Society held it's annual worldwide conference in Kyoto, Japan...The conference brought together some of the finest scientists in the world to discuss degenerative disorders of the brain; specifically those in Parkinson's Disease et al. IT was the salient topic of this outstanding conference.

If you are truly interested in the movement society and what research they are finding parkinson's disease et al. then I suggest that you try to hear the most latest podcasts from Kyoto and be amazed at the efforts being used to help in this terrible disease and others.

I will attempt to hook you up with some if not all of the podcast summaries etc. Please be patient, but if you have a real need for good information, you will find it here.

URL: from internet 2006 and 2007.

URL: http://64.26.25.126

Be well,
:yes: Rob

:yes: June 5, 2007

Degeneration of the brain has in the past been sort of a death sentence. In Parkinson's disease, the neurologist has training to wait until the clinical signs of parkinsons shows up....and this is during a twenty minute visit in his/her office. Actually what is happening if you do have a clinical dx of parkinsons it means that approximately 70% of our dopaminergic neurons have died in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. NOW THAT SUCKS.....

In reference to paragraph one, it sucks because no one (patient) should wait until your dopaminergic neurons die in the brain inorder for the neurologist to tell you that you have this disease. The new way of thinking has become a contemporary paradigm shift. Now, we want to know if neurons are dying even if we cannot fully or maybe even partially neuro protect them....at least the goal is worthly. Once a person, scientist or neurologist has a goal and objective other than wait and see...then things do happen.

Things that can happen with early dx of neurodegenerative diseases:
l. Focus changes....we now work on neuroprotection...that is happening right now around the globe...due to the change in paradigm.

2. Blood tests are now being spoken by scientists as possible in the dx of these neurodegenerative diseases. This was unheard of two years ago...I believe this will occur very soon.

3. PET scans images can already determine to a great extent the strength/weaknesses of dopaminergic neurons in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. In other words...neurologist have been telling their patients that we can dx you for parkinsons or other neurodegenerative diseases but the cost is prohibitive and what if we did know....what could we do about it...there is no neuroprotection.....WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP....Anyone knows that you do not invent or discover something if you do not have a positive attitude and use the technology that can tell you something that would alter those goals and objectives.

I will tell you first hand that the work of neuroscientists and educators cannot work unless the neuroscientists and educators quit playing god. We know very little, but what we do know is that a solid goal and a solid objective based on a tenable goal is very important. My example for many years to come, is when I was told by people who should know in February 2006 that Glial cells have no particular value in the brain other than to support the neurons.....This was wrong and I knew it...but could do nothing about letting the others know what I knew....Well, let me tell you that glial cells are much more than supporting cells to neurons....they are most likely going to be the answer to the cure of another neurodegenerative disease called MS.....Power in the hands of fools really is sickening.....

4. Neuro imaging neurologists are looking at signs of neurodegeneration as early as preschool....they feel that the imaging process will change the outlook of our scientific demeanor and get us moving in the right direction of a cure or neuroprotection.

Summary....You cannot cure a disease or solve a big problem if you just sit on you duff and read the texts that are out-dated the moment they are published....how many neurologist belong to the Movement Disorder Society and listen to the pod casts that stimulate new thinking of the best scientists in the world...not many my friends......the pod casts from Kyoto, Japan were on the internet for about a year now...and I bet that most educators and scientists from the best of universities and insitutions have not taken the time to listen to then....education has already changed and we don't even know it...it is passing us by...we hold on to the past of reading old texts to help us feel comfortable in our ignorance. Get with it people!!!!!!!!!!
Be well,
Rob

New information on possible causes of Parkinson's Disease is beginning to surface. Retrieved from the internet 1-5-08: URL: http://www.pdf.org/news/news.cfm?type=1&...edItem=384
Be well,
Rob aka segarama:detective:

I know significant inroads are now being made to a myriad of brain-related conditions, including Parkinsons. This is all very interesting.

The follow article was retrieved from the Michael J. Fox Foundation Website for Parkinson's Research. It is a good one....

NEW YORK, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research today announced approximately $2 million in total funding for seven research studies aiming to advance the ability of the Parkinson's research field, and drug makers, to therapeutically target two genes -- LRRK2 and alpha-synuclein -- that play a major, but still only partially understood, role in Parkinson's disease.
"Critical Challenges is uniquely designed to increase researcher focus on specific research challenges standing in the way of therapeutic progress," said Katie Hood, chief executive officer. "In this round, our research staff canvassed the world's leading PD experts to identify the precise issues holding up LRRK2 and alpha-synuclein drug development. We then structured our funding to incentivize scientists to look for the exact answers that will break down those roadblocks and allow work to move forward with greater impact. As in everything we do, our ultimate goal is to advance scientific solutions that can tangibly improve patients' quality of life."
LRRK2 and alpha-synuclein were selected for study under the first funding round of MJFF's Critical Challenges in PD program following a survey of the field by the Foundation's research staff and advisors. Alpha-synuclein was the first gene associated with PD, and pathological clumping of the protein product of the alpha-synuclein gene within cells of the brain represents a nearly universal thread linking multiple forms of Parkinson's. The association of the LRRK2 gene to PD was discovered more recently but appears to contribute to a substantial number of Parkinson's cases -- as high as 40 percent in some ethnic groups.
Investigators awarded under the alpha-synuclein challenge will look at various ways in which disease-related modifications of alpha-synuclein might lead to toxic effects. Hilal Lashuel, PhD, of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne in Switzerland and Chris Rochet, PhD, of Purdue University will determine which modified forms of alpha-synuclein have the greatest effects on aggregation and toxicity to dopamine neurons. A third investigator, Deniz Kirik, MD, PhD, of Lund University in Sweden, will test the hypothesis that the toxicity of alpha-synuclein may be enhanced by interaction with dopamine itself, which might help further explain the selective vulnerability of these cells in PD.
The four investigators awarded under the LRRK2 challenge all seek to test whether an abnormal increase in LRRK2's enzymatic function triggers toxicity. Chenjian Li, PhD, of Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Zhenyu Yue, PhD, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine are each developing mice genetically engineered to express mutant forms of the LRRK2 gene, including a form that lacks enzymatic function, to directly test the hypothesis. Two other investigators, Romain Zufferey, MD, PhD, of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Andrew West, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will perform similar studies but will instead deliver the modified LRRK2 gene directly to brain cells using modified viruses, technology similar to that used in gene therapy.
Grant abstracts and researcher bios for all projects are available on the Foundation's Web site, http://www.michaeljfox.org/.
About The Michael J. Fox Foundation
Founded in 2000, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is dedicated to ensuring the development of a cure for Parkinson's disease within this decade through an aggressively funded research agenda. The Foundation has funded over $112 million in research to date.
Michael J. Fox Foundation

Be well,
Rob:yes:

Researchers are working hard for a cure for alzheimers & parkinson's disease but human laws tend to confound their attempt. Retrieved from the internet 1-22-08: URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jh...tem121.xml

Best to you,
Rob:yes:

Very interesting study out on ALS. Worth a read. Retrieved from the internet on 1-26-08: URL: http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_8088813 and URL: http://alslithium.atspace.com/index.html

Best,
Rob:am:

Retrieved from the internet today 2-04-08; URL http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/med...5191.shtml . This may eventually have legs...
Be well,
Rob:yes:

Most inclusive parkinson's disease symptoms to date: Retrieved from internet 4-11-08 and 2-23-08;URL: http://biomed.brown.edu/Courses/BI108/BI...round.html URL: http://www.disaboom.com/Health/parkinson...ptoms.aspx
URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...203544.htm; URL: http://www.pdf.org/; URL:


Might take a look....most doctors and specialist do not keep up entirely on these new symptoms....This is where it is important that the patient be highly educated pursuant to their own disease. URL: retrieve 3-7-08: http://www.learner.org/resources/series142.html

Retrieved today 10-04-08. URL: http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/63/7/1155

Be well,
Rob aka segarama:yes: