By ADAM STEWART
After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease more than two years ago, Steve Quam of Anderson, S.C., discovered that exercise helped him limit his tremors.
Bicycling is one of his favorite exercises, so 64-year-old Quam decided he would ride across the U.S. to raise awareness of the disease. He began in Washington state and arrived Monday in Marion. He planned to finish his ride in South Carolina, probably mid-November.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disease that impairs motor skills, speech, and other functions. No cure has been found in the 200 years since it was discovered, Quam said.
But treatment is available. Quam said he couldn’t make the ride if he weren’t taking medication to suppress his temors.
He is riding in support of the Davis Phinney Foundation For Parkinson’s. Phinney was a great cyclist in the 1980s who competed in the Olympics and Tour de France. Phinney was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 40 and started his foundation to research the disease and provide support for patients.
Quam said he admired Phinney long before he knew of their connection.
The message he wants to spread with his ride is that people with Parkinson’s disease don’t have to stop doing things.
“You may have limitations, but with adjustments you can still do things you enjoy,” Quam said.
He had ridden about 2,600 miles of the 4,000-mile trip when he arrived in Marion. He has ridden between 30 and 60 miles most days, but his longest ride was 79 miles. His route from Washington to Kansas wasn’t direct, he said.
“I took the scenic tour,” through parts of British Columbia and Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, he said.
He also stopped in Boulder, Colo., where he had dinner with Phinney. Quam said his favorite part of the trip has been meeting other Parkinson’s disease patients and discussing what works for them to control their symptoms.
He is looking forward to seeing relatives in Missouri and his son in Memphis, Tenn.
For more information, go to http://sqpd.us or e-mail PedalForParkinsons@charter.net.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Novel molecular pathway underlying Parkinson's disease identified
Researchers have identified a new molecular pathway underlying Parkinson’s disease and also pointed to existing drugs which may be able to slow progression of the disease.
The pathway involved proteins — known as polyamines — that were found to be responsible for the increase in build-up of other toxic proteins in neurons, which causes the neurons to malfunction and, eventually, die.
Though high levels of polyamines have been found previously in patients with Parkinson’s, the new study led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Centre is the first to identify a mechanism for why polyamines are elevated in the first place and how polyamines mediate the disease. The researchers also demonstrated in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease that polyamine-lowering drugs had a protective effect.
“The most exciting thing about the finding is that it opens up the possibility of using a whole class of drugs that is already available,” said Scott A. Small, senior author of the study.
“Additionally, since polyamines can be found in blood and spinal fluid, this may lead to a test that could be used for early detection of Parkinson’s,” he said.
Though many cellular defects have been found to cause rare, inherited forms of Parkinson’s disease, most cases of Parkinson’s are caused by unknown changes inside the brain’s neurons.
The researchers used a wide variety of scientific techniques to search for still unidentified defects in the brain.
The success of the technique depends on identifying regions of the brain affected by the disease and comparing them to unaffected regions.
Using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Nicole Lewandowski, identified such regions in the brainstem of patients with Parkinson’s.
The scans showed that one region of the brainstem was consistently less active in these patients than in healthy control subjects. Also revealed in the scans was a neighbouring region that was unaffected by the disease.
Next, using brain tissue from deceased patients with Parkinson’s, the researchers looked for proteins that could potentially explain the brainstem imaging differences. To validate the finding, three separate studies — in yeast, mice, and people — were performed.
The yeast studies revealed that polyamines promote the accumulation of a toxic Parkinson’s-causing protein in living cells, and not just in test tubes, as was known from previous research.
In the mice studies, a link was established among SAT1, polyamines, and Parkinson’s toxins in a mammalian brain. These experiments also revealed that drugs that target SAT1 may be able to slow down the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
Genetic studies in patients with Parkinson’s provided further evidence that polyamines may help drive Parkinson’s disease in people. After examining the SAT1 gene in nearly 100 patients with Parkinson’s, it was uncovered that novel genetic variant that was found exclusively in the study’s patients with Parkinson’s but not in controls.
“Even though the variant was rare in patients with Parkinson’s, finding it was surprising and further strengthens the possibility that defects in the polyamine pathway help to trigger the disease,” said Small. The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article642862.ece
The pathway involved proteins — known as polyamines — that were found to be responsible for the increase in build-up of other toxic proteins in neurons, which causes the neurons to malfunction and, eventually, die.
Though high levels of polyamines have been found previously in patients with Parkinson’s, the new study led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Centre is the first to identify a mechanism for why polyamines are elevated in the first place and how polyamines mediate the disease. The researchers also demonstrated in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease that polyamine-lowering drugs had a protective effect.
“The most exciting thing about the finding is that it opens up the possibility of using a whole class of drugs that is already available,” said Scott A. Small, senior author of the study.
“Additionally, since polyamines can be found in blood and spinal fluid, this may lead to a test that could be used for early detection of Parkinson’s,” he said.
Though many cellular defects have been found to cause rare, inherited forms of Parkinson’s disease, most cases of Parkinson’s are caused by unknown changes inside the brain’s neurons.
The researchers used a wide variety of scientific techniques to search for still unidentified defects in the brain.
The success of the technique depends on identifying regions of the brain affected by the disease and comparing them to unaffected regions.
Using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Nicole Lewandowski, identified such regions in the brainstem of patients with Parkinson’s.
The scans showed that one region of the brainstem was consistently less active in these patients than in healthy control subjects. Also revealed in the scans was a neighbouring region that was unaffected by the disease.
Next, using brain tissue from deceased patients with Parkinson’s, the researchers looked for proteins that could potentially explain the brainstem imaging differences. To validate the finding, three separate studies — in yeast, mice, and people — were performed.
The yeast studies revealed that polyamines promote the accumulation of a toxic Parkinson’s-causing protein in living cells, and not just in test tubes, as was known from previous research.
In the mice studies, a link was established among SAT1, polyamines, and Parkinson’s toxins in a mammalian brain. These experiments also revealed that drugs that target SAT1 may be able to slow down the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
Genetic studies in patients with Parkinson’s provided further evidence that polyamines may help drive Parkinson’s disease in people. After examining the SAT1 gene in nearly 100 patients with Parkinson’s, it was uncovered that novel genetic variant that was found exclusively in the study’s patients with Parkinson’s but not in controls.
“Even though the variant was rare in patients with Parkinson’s, finding it was surprising and further strengthens the possibility that defects in the polyamine pathway help to trigger the disease,” said Small. The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article642862.ece
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Whole body vibration therapy, a revolutionary technique that efficiently treats Parkinson's disease
A novel non-traditional physical therapy method is available for advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients that do not respond well to medications such as L-dopamine. Scientists from the Sun Life Financial Movement Disorders Research and Rehabilitation Centre from Ontario, Canada have shown that short term whole body vibration therapy significantly improves the clinical symptoms (loss of gait, tremors and akinesia) of PD patients. In this clinical study, a sample population of 40 PD patients were subject to intensive therapy for a few weeks using a Physioacoustic Chair, an sophisticated device containing speakers that are strategically placed throughout the chair in order to deliver programmed low frequency sound waves throughout the body of the patient.
This study is remarkable in the sense that acoustic therapy had a significant impact on the well being and quality of life of PD patients. In brief, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), gait assessments and upper limb control tests showed significant improvements on gait stability and posture, increased stepping time and speed on the peg-board task, a significant decrease in tremors and less rigidity in PD patients receiving whole body vibration therapy compared to a control group that received no therapy. More importantly, this study showed that whole body vibration therapy may also be applied to PD patients that do not respond well to L-dopamine medication or deep brain stimulation, a complicated risky surgery that involves delivering mild electrical shocks to the brain via implanted electrodes. The latter technique is used as a last resort to stabilize tremors and rigidity in PD patients.
Whole body acoustic stimulation vs. conventional physical therapy for treating PD
Before this study, another previous study conducted about a year ago showed that whole vibration therapy is even more effective in reversing many of the clinical symptoms of PD patients compared to conventional physical therapy. Specifically, this particular study showed that whole body vibration therapy improved equilibrium and gait four weeks after undergoing an intensive three week regimen consisting of 15 minutes a day for five days a week.
Remarkably, this study quantitatively also suggests that whole body vibration therapy is more efficient (25% more efficient) than conventional physical therapy for partially reversing clinical symptoms in PD patients that do not respond well to L-dopamine. It will be interesting to know whether a combined therapy that uses both whole body and conventional intervention techniques has an additive/ synergistic positive effect in reversing clinical PD symptoms compared to single treatment intervention.
Brief background on whole body vibration therapy.
The technology used for conventional physical therapeutic interventions of PD patients have included the use of treadmills, different optical and acoustic devices, balance/ gait training devices and low impact exercise machines. On the other hand, the concept and practice of whole body vibration therapy is not novel since this technique has been used by athletes as part of a routine exercise to loose weight, improve muscle tone and increase muscle strength.
Whole body vibration therapy was initially postulated and developed by Jean Martin Charcot, who also developed a vibration chair many decades ago! There are currently a few devices currently in the market that have been tweaked and redesigned with from other existing prototypes. Some of the most well known whole body vibrational devices are sold by Galileo Fitness and is used for many applications including relaxation therapy, strength training and muscle toning, and for physical therapy. The machine looks like a typical workout machine with arm rests, a bottom platform, and a console that allows a user to program a variety of amplitude and frequency settings (18-28 Hz). Once a patient stands on top of the platform and grabs the arm rests, he/she may receive a short session of either low frequency sound waves that allow for muscle relaxation while higher amplitude and frequency settings is used for increasing muscle tone and contraction.
Whole body vibration therapy has also been used in the past to treat patients affected by neuromuscular debilitating and neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy, Huntington's chorea, and other movement disorders. It is not known how whole body acoustic therapy works in Parkinson's disease patients but it is believed that high vibrational frequencies help to partially restore some of the sensory perception (proprioception) that is lost during the progression of the disease and is also used to enhance muscle coordination, a physical trait that is lost during the progression of PD. Finally, high frequency sound waves delivered via physicoacoustic devices has been shown to improve blood flow, electrical conductivity and metabolism of muscle tissue.
This study is remarkable in the sense that acoustic therapy had a significant impact on the well being and quality of life of PD patients. In brief, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), gait assessments and upper limb control tests showed significant improvements on gait stability and posture, increased stepping time and speed on the peg-board task, a significant decrease in tremors and less rigidity in PD patients receiving whole body vibration therapy compared to a control group that received no therapy. More importantly, this study showed that whole body vibration therapy may also be applied to PD patients that do not respond well to L-dopamine medication or deep brain stimulation, a complicated risky surgery that involves delivering mild electrical shocks to the brain via implanted electrodes. The latter technique is used as a last resort to stabilize tremors and rigidity in PD patients.
Whole body acoustic stimulation vs. conventional physical therapy for treating PD
Before this study, another previous study conducted about a year ago showed that whole vibration therapy is even more effective in reversing many of the clinical symptoms of PD patients compared to conventional physical therapy. Specifically, this particular study showed that whole body vibration therapy improved equilibrium and gait four weeks after undergoing an intensive three week regimen consisting of 15 minutes a day for five days a week.
Remarkably, this study quantitatively also suggests that whole body vibration therapy is more efficient (25% more efficient) than conventional physical therapy for partially reversing clinical symptoms in PD patients that do not respond well to L-dopamine. It will be interesting to know whether a combined therapy that uses both whole body and conventional intervention techniques has an additive/ synergistic positive effect in reversing clinical PD symptoms compared to single treatment intervention.
Brief background on whole body vibration therapy.
The technology used for conventional physical therapeutic interventions of PD patients have included the use of treadmills, different optical and acoustic devices, balance/ gait training devices and low impact exercise machines. On the other hand, the concept and practice of whole body vibration therapy is not novel since this technique has been used by athletes as part of a routine exercise to loose weight, improve muscle tone and increase muscle strength.
Whole body vibration therapy was initially postulated and developed by Jean Martin Charcot, who also developed a vibration chair many decades ago! There are currently a few devices currently in the market that have been tweaked and redesigned with from other existing prototypes. Some of the most well known whole body vibrational devices are sold by Galileo Fitness and is used for many applications including relaxation therapy, strength training and muscle toning, and for physical therapy. The machine looks like a typical workout machine with arm rests, a bottom platform, and a console that allows a user to program a variety of amplitude and frequency settings (18-28 Hz). Once a patient stands on top of the platform and grabs the arm rests, he/she may receive a short session of either low frequency sound waves that allow for muscle relaxation while higher amplitude and frequency settings is used for increasing muscle tone and contraction.
Whole body vibration therapy has also been used in the past to treat patients affected by neuromuscular debilitating and neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy, Huntington's chorea, and other movement disorders. It is not known how whole body acoustic therapy works in Parkinson's disease patients but it is believed that high vibrational frequencies help to partially restore some of the sensory perception (proprioception) that is lost during the progression of the disease and is also used to enhance muscle coordination, a physical trait that is lost during the progression of PD. Finally, high frequency sound waves delivered via physicoacoustic devices has been shown to improve blood flow, electrical conductivity and metabolism of muscle tissue.
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