Parkinson's Disease prevention

Blood Pressure Drug May Slow Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is caused by the death of a group of nerve cells in the brain's substantia nigra that are vulnerable to toxins and stress. A blood pressure drug being tested has proven to help protect these neuron cells. This drug, isradipine, reduced the vulnerability of the neurons by forcing them to generate electrical signals in a more"youthful way" by blocking calcium channels.

Young mice use sodium channels rather than calcium channels to generate activity, while older mice use calcium channels. Researchers believe that the calcium channels in this certain area of the brain produce calcium at dangerous levels making the neurons vulnerable. By blocking the calcium ions with the drug, older mice were forced to use sodium channels, just like the young mice.

This drug is currently used to lower blood pressure in humans. the reason it is not yet used for patients of Parkinson's is because of the fear of dangerous drop of blood pressure. The amount of drug needed to treat the brain would be substantially larger than to lower blood pressure. This can be dangerous especially to Parkinson's patients since some of them already suffer from low blood pressure.

Having a personal connection to Parkinson's disease I am thrilled to see many advances in this research field.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/news_articles/news_article_Parkinson_isradipine.htm