Drugs guarantee to slow Parkinson’s disease progression

Parkinson's disease is a progressive and chronic movement disorder, which means that over time the symptoms continue and get worse. The cause is unknown and there is currently no cure for it. Treatments for Parkinson's disease, such as medication and physiotherapy, are used only to control the symptoms of the disease. Parkinson's involves the dysfunction and death of vital nerve cells in the brain called neurons. Parkinson's first affects neurons in an area of the brain called the black mass. Some of these dying neurons produce dopamine, a chemical that sends messages to the part of the brain responsible for controlling and coordinating movements.

Each patient is affected differently by a set of specific symptoms. Patients also have different reactions to treatment. The variety of symptoms is also very large. The first symptoms for some patients are tremors, while some do not have tremors but have difficulty maintaining balance. In some diseases, it progresses rapidly and in others, it occurs slowly.

In a study published recently in nature communications, Rush scientists found that two different peptides (chains of amino acids) helped slow the spread of a protein that occurs in abnormal protein deposits called Lewy bodies in the brain. Lewy bodies are hallmarks of Parkinson's disease, the most common movement disorder affecting about 1 million people in the US and Canada.

"Currently, there are no remedies that slow the development of Parkinson's disease, they just treat the symptoms. Understanding how these diseases work is important to developing effective drugs that inhibit alpha-synuclein pathology, protect the brain, and stop the progression of Lewy body diseases," says Kalipada Pahan, Ph.D., the Floyd A. Davis Professor of Neurology.

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