Fwd: [TMIC] (RP)Sally= PARKINSONS CURE BREAK THRU

[Guest guest]

A cure for us will be coming soon, right, right.

Subj: Parkinson's Breakthrough

Date: 08/21/2002 10:10:53 PM Central Daylight Time

From: SCIPIN-L@...

To: SCIPIN-L@...

Sent from the Internet (Details)

Parkinson's Breakthrough

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Parkinson's disease is debilitating for most

patients, but that may be changing. A new surgical technique has worked

wonders on one Parkinson's patient, and doctors say it may be the key to a

cure.

A few short years ago, Dennis would hardly have been able to hold his

paper or his orange juice. He says, "The hand would shake and make you feel

ugly. Your balance was kind of affected."

But took back his life when he underwent a revolutionary procedure.

It involved the transplantation of his own brain's stem cells. "They were

not fetal cells. They were my cells, so I wouldn't have to take any

anti-rejection medication the rest of my life."

Doctors took some of 's stem cells and introduced chemicals that

forced the cells to change form. They became neurons that secrete dopamine,

a critical substance lacking in Parkinson's patients. Months later, the new

cells were implanted into .

Neurosurgeon Michel Levesque, M.D., of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, tells

Ivanhoe, "We amplify the number by several millions, and then the kind of

cells that we introduce are mature neurons, whereas initially we harvested a

few, 20 to 50, stem cells."

is now 80 percent better than he was before the procedure. That means

he can once again do the things the rest of us take for granted.

"I don't have the stiffness in the arms anymore. I can put my contacts in

without having to hit and miss and poke myself in the eye," says .

Doctors caution it's too early to be sure the procedure works as well as it

seems. But if 's case is no fluke, researchers could be looking at a

Parkinson's breakthrough.

Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are now expanding their trial to see

if they can achieve the same results with more patients. Dr. Levesque

believes the great improvement may have something to do with some other

component of the stem cells.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Blanca Solis

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Neurofunctional Centers

8631 W. 3rd St., Suite 215-E

Los Angeles, CA 90048

levesque@...

http://www.csmc.edu/nfs

http://www.celmedbio.com