Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Borelia Blood Culture Now Available for Clinicians
Advanced Laboratory Services is pleased to announce that the Borrelia Blood Culture is now available for clinical use in 48 states so far. We have already been accepting samples and reporting results! Read more:
http://www.lymedisease.org/news/lyme_disease_views/culturetest.html
One west-coast LLMD says it looks good but needs more testing to make sure Bb is what they are culturing, not other kinds of spirochetes. However, it seems to be gaining in popularity. I will be getting this culture test in a month or so and will post about it when I do.
Success and setbacks in embryonic stem cell research for PD
Success and setbacks in embryonic stem cell research
Source: medcitynews.com
Current medical news from today, including embryonic stem cell research for PD
Friday, October 14, 2011
What Parkinson's Teaches Us about the Brain
Check out this article in NY Times, about exercise and PD.
Sort of a paradox for Lyme patients because aerobic exercise often makes Lymies feel worse. My Lyme docs have warned against aerobic exercise, saying it's better to concentrate on weight-bearing exercise. After aerobics I do feel much worse, sometimes for two days. But I think I'm going to give some bike riding a whirl.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
PD Vaccine Shows Hope
Here's a news story about a potential vaccine for Parkinson's disease. The vaccine prevents the build-up of fibrous tangles called lewey bodies in the brains of PD and Alzheimers patients. There may be application for Lyme patients too, considering that reseacher Alan McDonald found Borrellia spirochetes in 7 of 10 post-mortem Alzheimer's brains he examined, which suggests that there may be a connection between Bb and lewey body formation.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
High Risk Medical Insurance
I believe this is the direct link to the California High Risk Medical Insurance program. Some Lymeies have had good results here:
http://www.mrmib.
http://www.mrmib.
Friday, September 30, 2011
New PD drug research leads to human trials
From Michael J. Fox Foundation newsletter:
http://www.michaeljfox.org/newsEvents_mjffInTheNews_pressReleases_article.cfm?ID=510
Vanderbilt-MJFF Partnership Yields Drug-Like Molecules Aimed at Improving Treatment of Parkinson's Disease
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have achieved a milestone in the development of a potential new treatment for Parkinson’s disease that may improve on some of the limitations of current therapy.
Three drug-like molecules that act on a specific glutamate receptor in the brain are ready for the next stage of preclinical testing prior to entering human trials. The molecules were developed with major support from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).
If all goes well in final preclinical testing, the molecules could be ready for clinical testing as soon as 2013, says Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery. “We are very excited to reach this major milestone and are eager to fully understand the extent of benefit that this new treatment strategy will have in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease,” Conn said.
“Our Foundation is committed to advancing improved symptomatic therapies that could dramatically increase patients’ quality of life,” said MJFF CEO Todd Sherer, Ph.D. “The emergence of successful drug candidates from our partnership … points to the viability of a new model for drug development, one in which academic teams collaborating with forward-thinking funding partners can help keep the pipeline flowing with promising new agents.”
New models are urgently needed as pharmaceutical companies increasingly struggle to recoup their research investments in the development of new treatments. It can cost over a billion dollars to bring a drug to market. Some pharma firms already are downsizing their research operations as patent protection ends for some of their best-selling brand name products. Cuts in health care reimbursement for medications could bring even more financial challenges for the drugmakers.
Parkinson’s disease and the shortcomings of current treatments
An estimated 1 million Americans have Parkinson's disease, a progressive brain disorder characterized by resting tremor, rigidity and slowness of movement, as well as a battery of non-motor symptoms. It is caused by the death of nerve cells in a specific brain region that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Dopamine replacement therapy, today’s gold standard treatment for Parkinson’s, relieves some motor symptoms of the disease, but over time it causes debilitating side effects such as involuntary, uncontrollable movements (dyskinesia). It is believed that dyskinesia is caused at least in part by the ebb and flow of dopamine levels in the brains of those receiving dopamine replacement therapy. Current Parkinson’s treatments also provide less and less benefit to patients as the disease worsens over the long term.
The new Vanderbilt compounds work in a fundamentally different way from dopamine replacement therapy, by bypassing the dopamine system altogether and instead modulating another of the brain’s neurotransmitters, glutamate. Conn and his colleagues have been working to activate a specific glutamate receptor called mGlu4.
The compounds are known as “positive allosteric modulators,” or PAMs. To increase mGluR4 activity while minimizing the likelihood of adverse effects, Conn’s team has taken a subtle approach to manipulating the mGluR4 receptor. “You can liken it to a dimmer switch on a light in your home, where you can turn up the gain of the receptor and its activity, or turn it down, without completely activating it or shutting it off,” Conn explained in a 2009 interview.
In their latest findings, the Vanderbilt researchers describe three PAMs that, when given systemically in a preclinical model of Parkinson’s disease, reach the brain and relieve motor symptoms, including rigidity and akinesia (a “freezing” of certain motor muscles).
NIH support
Conn’s colleagues in this effort include Craig Lindsley, Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery and Director of Medicinal Chemistry; Carrie Jones, Ph.D., the center’s director of Behavioral Pharmacology; Colleen Niswender, Ph.D., director of Molecular Pharmacology; J. Scott Daniels, Ph.D., director of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics; and Corey Hopkins, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Pharmacology and Chemistry.
Their work has been supported since 2007 by more than $4 million, largely awarded under MJFF’s LEAPS (Linked Efforts to Accelerate Parkinson's Solutions) initiative, which assembles teams of researchers with the various expertise required to bring a particular project to fruition, and to do so in as efficient and streamlined a way as possible. Conn’s speedy results are an example of a successful LEAPS project in action.
Conn’s work on Parkinson’s disease actually began in the 1990s when he was at Emory University. That research was conducted as part of a Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Research supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
In 2010, he and his colleagues began a partnership with a new NINDS Udall Center at Emory to explore additional allosteric modulators as potential treatments for Parkinson’s disease.
"A primary goal of the NINDS Udall Centers program is to foster translation of research observations into improved treatments for Parkinson’s disease,” said Beth-Anne Sieber, Ph.D., a program director at NINDS. “We are pleased to support Dr. Conn’s discovery efforts as part of this program.”
The Vanderbilt-Fox Foundation partnership is an example of how academic medical centers are helping to fill the “drug pipeline” with new agents that potentially will dramatically improve the health of millions of patients worldwide.
http://www.michaeljfox.org/newsEvents_mjffInTheNews_pressReleases_article.cfm?ID=510
Vanderbilt-MJFF Partnership Yields Drug-Like Molecules Aimed at Improving Treatment of Parkinson's Disease
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have achieved a milestone in the development of a potential new treatment for Parkinson’s disease that may improve on some of the limitations of current therapy.
Three drug-like molecules that act on a specific glutamate receptor in the brain are ready for the next stage of preclinical testing prior to entering human trials. The molecules were developed with major support from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).
If all goes well in final preclinical testing, the molecules could be ready for clinical testing as soon as 2013, says Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery. “We are very excited to reach this major milestone and are eager to fully understand the extent of benefit that this new treatment strategy will have in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease,” Conn said.
“Our Foundation is committed to advancing improved symptomatic therapies that could dramatically increase patients’ quality of life,” said MJFF CEO Todd Sherer, Ph.D. “The emergence of successful drug candidates from our partnership … points to the viability of a new model for drug development, one in which academic teams collaborating with forward-thinking funding partners can help keep the pipeline flowing with promising new agents.”
New models are urgently needed as pharmaceutical companies increasingly struggle to recoup their research investments in the development of new treatments. It can cost over a billion dollars to bring a drug to market. Some pharma firms already are downsizing their research operations as patent protection ends for some of their best-selling brand name products. Cuts in health care reimbursement for medications could bring even more financial challenges for the drugmakers.
Parkinson’s disease and the shortcomings of current treatments
An estimated 1 million Americans have Parkinson's disease, a progressive brain disorder characterized by resting tremor, rigidity and slowness of movement, as well as a battery of non-motor symptoms. It is caused by the death of nerve cells in a specific brain region that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Dopamine replacement therapy, today’s gold standard treatment for Parkinson’s, relieves some motor symptoms of the disease, but over time it causes debilitating side effects such as involuntary, uncontrollable movements (dyskinesia). It is believed that dyskinesia is caused at least in part by the ebb and flow of dopamine levels in the brains of those receiving dopamine replacement therapy. Current Parkinson’s treatments also provide less and less benefit to patients as the disease worsens over the long term.
The new Vanderbilt compounds work in a fundamentally different way from dopamine replacement therapy, by bypassing the dopamine system altogether and instead modulating another of the brain’s neurotransmitters, glutamate. Conn and his colleagues have been working to activate a specific glutamate receptor called mGlu4.
The compounds are known as “positive allosteric modulators,” or PAMs. To increase mGluR4 activity while minimizing the likelihood of adverse effects, Conn’s team has taken a subtle approach to manipulating the mGluR4 receptor. “You can liken it to a dimmer switch on a light in your home, where you can turn up the gain of the receptor and its activity, or turn it down, without completely activating it or shutting it off,” Conn explained in a 2009 interview.
In their latest findings, the Vanderbilt researchers describe three PAMs that, when given systemically in a preclinical model of Parkinson’s disease, reach the brain and relieve motor symptoms, including rigidity and akinesia (a “freezing” of certain motor muscles).
NIH support
Conn’s colleagues in this effort include Craig Lindsley, Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery and Director of Medicinal Chemistry; Carrie Jones, Ph.D., the center’s director of Behavioral Pharmacology; Colleen Niswender, Ph.D., director of Molecular Pharmacology; J. Scott Daniels, Ph.D., director of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics; and Corey Hopkins, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Pharmacology and Chemistry.
Their work has been supported since 2007 by more than $4 million, largely awarded under MJFF’s LEAPS (Linked Efforts to Accelerate Parkinson's Solutions) initiative, which assembles teams of researchers with the various expertise required to bring a particular project to fruition, and to do so in as efficient and streamlined a way as possible. Conn’s speedy results are an example of a successful LEAPS project in action.
Conn’s work on Parkinson’s disease actually began in the 1990s when he was at Emory University. That research was conducted as part of a Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Research supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
In 2010, he and his colleagues began a partnership with a new NINDS Udall Center at Emory to explore additional allosteric modulators as potential treatments for Parkinson’s disease.
"A primary goal of the NINDS Udall Centers program is to foster translation of research observations into improved treatments for Parkinson’s disease,” said Beth-Anne Sieber, Ph.D., a program director at NINDS. “We are pleased to support Dr. Conn’s discovery efforts as part of this program.”
The Vanderbilt-Fox Foundation partnership is an example of how academic medical centers are helping to fill the “drug pipeline” with new agents that potentially will dramatically improve the health of millions of patients worldwide.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sinemet causing nausea
I took two Sinemet tablets today, along with Ardane. Those are for my PD symptoms. Then I took some Rx pain killers for the disk problems in my upper back. Mid-day I had excellent control of my hands for piano practicing. Not perfect, but much better than usual. I could play trills and turnarounds for the first time in years. I could not play quickly-repeating, rhythmic chords such as in the Chopin 'Military Poloniase', unfortunately. Still, the control and facility I did have was exhilarating and fun! I played for a couple of hours. It's nice to know that the nerves and muscles are still hooked up. I guess it's just the neurotransmitters that are missing, or are in short supply. It's such a weird disease. Whether it's PD or Lyme, it's really crazy makung and frustrating.
Later on, around 9PM, I started feeling shaky again, so I took another Sinemet. It was on a fairly empty stomach. I felt pretty immediately nauseated, within the hour. Hot flashes, low body temp (95.2), dizzy. An hour later it passed, after eating some chicken. I suspect it was the sinemet, but it sure felt funky.
Later on, around 9PM, I started feeling shaky again, so I took another Sinemet. It was on a fairly empty stomach. I felt pretty immediately nauseated, within the hour. Hot flashes, low body temp (95.2), dizzy. An hour later it passed, after eating some chicken. I suspect it was the sinemet, but it sure felt funky.
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