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In 1817, James Parkinson expressed a hope concerning the illness that’s named after him. He thought that in some unspecified time in the future there could be a discovery and “the progress of the illness could also be stopped.”
Now, practically 200 years since Parkinson expressed his hope, and after 4 many years of unsuccessful medical trials, a gaggle of French researchers experiences the primary glimmer of success — a modest slowing of the illness in a one-year examine.
And the drug they used? A so-called GLP-1 receptor agonist, just like the wildly widespread medication Ozempic, for diabetes, and Wegovy, for obesity.
As many as half a million People have been identified with Parkinson’s illness, a degenerative mind sickness second solely to Alzheimer’s in prevalence.
Signs embody tremors, slowness and stiffness, and issue with stability. That may result in issue strolling, speaking and swallowing. Many sufferers develop dementia.
However there are medication and coverings, like deep mind stimulation, that assist, stated Dr. David Standaert, a Parkinson’s skilled on the College of Alabama at Birmingham.
“You’ll appear and feel a lot better,” Dr. Standaert stated. The issue is that the illness inexorably progresses.
“While you get 5 or 10 years into Parkinson’s, a whole lot of issues emerge,” he stated.
The brand new examine gave researchers cautious hope.
It’s not a slam dunk, however it’s “nibbling on the edges of illness modification,” stated Dr. Michael S. Okun, a Parkinson’s illness skilled on the College of Florida who was not concerned within the examine.
Dr. Standaert, who additionally was not concerned within the trial, stated it was “a extremely encouraging step ahead.”
“There have been so many trials that confirmed no success,” he added.
Dr. Hyun Joo Chu on the Nationwide Institute of Neurological Problems and Stroke stated the examine was “crucial” however cautioned that it was a Section 2 examine, designed to check a speculation however not sufficiently big or lengthy sufficient to be definitive.
“There are various many examples of very promising Section 2 trials,” she stated. “Folks get very excited, after which it doesn’t pan out.”
The paper, printed Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medication, concerned 156 folks with early Parkinson’s illness who had been randomly assigned to take the drug — lixisenatide, made by Sanofi — or a placebo and adopted for a yr. The trial was funded by the French authorities and Remedy Parkinson’s, a British charity.
Throughout that point, Parkinson’s signs like tremor, stiffness, slowness and stability worsened in these taking the placebo however not in these taking the drug.
The drug additionally prompted gastrointestinal unwanted effects like nausea and vomiting in additional than half of the individuals, maybe as a result of the researchers began with the very best dose as a substitute of progressively growing it as is completed with GLP-1 medication like Ozempic or Wegovy. In a 3rd of individuals, whose unwanted effects grew to become insupportable, the researchers halved their dose.
For the European researchers, led by Dr. Wassilios G. Meissner of the College of Bordeaux and Dr. Olivier Rascol of the College of Toulouse, it made sense to see if a GLP-1 drug might gradual Parkinson’s.
Research have repeatedly discovered that individuals with Kind 2 diabetes are at elevated threat for Parkinson’s illness, Dr. Rascol stated. However that elevated threat declines in those that take a GLP-1 drug to deal with their diabetes.
He added that autopsy research of mind tissue from Parkinson’s sufferers had discovered abnormalities associated to insulin resistance, though the sufferers didn’t have diabetes. GLP-1 medication deal with insulin resistance.
Lastly, he stated, GLP-1 medication can connect to proteins in neurons, so they could have an effect on the mind in several methods.
The French group says it needs to do a bigger and longer examine if it may well get funding, and if it may well get extra of the drug. At first of this yr, Sanofi withdrew the drug within the U.S. and stated it has began withdrawing it worldwide. The transfer was made for enterprise causes, an organization spokesman stated.
However what about Parkinson’s sufferers who’ve diabetes or weight problems? They’re eligible for a GLP-1 drug. Ought to they take one within the hopes it can gradual their Parkinson’s?
“It’s cheap” for them to take the medication, stated Dr. Standaert, who wrote an editorial accompanying the examine.
However, he cautioned, they will be unable to inform if the medication have prompted their illness development to gradual as a result of they received’t know what would have occurred if they’d not taken it.
“We received’t be taught something from it,” he stated.
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