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Posted 6/25/2007 12:26 PM (GMT 0)
I have been seeing and reading a lot of things about gene therapy lately. Does anyone have any info on it. It sounds promising.
keep moving
fiestytex
Posted 6/28/2007 9:40 PM (GMT 0)
feistytex, Interesting article on gene therapy,in case you or anyone else hasn't seen it. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19355047/
Posted 7/23/2007 7:20 AM (GMT 0)

I was a lab assistant for a group of neuroscientists that were studying gene therapy techniques for PD back when I was in college (I was majoring in neuroscience - at a liberal arts college, of all places!).  The research was very promising, even back then, in 1998-2000.

If you do a search for gene therapy for PD on www.pubmed.com (the online mecca of peer-reviewed articles), you'll find hundreds of articles about the current research.  Pretty technical stuff, but really interesting, especially for those of us with nerd-like tendencies! :-)

Posted 8/20/2007 8:24 AM (GMT 0)
Gene therapy appears to be very promising. There have been some exciting results from initial studies ... to the tune of 20-50% improvement in symptoms with no negative side effects in the initial 6-person studies. One study in particular by Ceregene is currently recruiting folks for the CERE-120 gene therapy. It is a blinded study, however, with half the participants receiving the treatment. The Michael J. Fox Foundation is putting a lot of money behind this research.

To learn more about this study and others, go to www.pdtrials.org Search on 'CERE-120' for more information about the Ceregene gene therapy study.

There also is a study utilizing retinal cell transplantation. One retina/eye can provide the necessary retinal cells for several thousand people. They are currently recruiting Parkinson's patients for a study also. I had to go to www.google.com and search on 'spheramine' to get information on this study.

Two great sites with information about trials are: www.pdtrials.org and www.clinicaltrials.gov Please do your own research. Nobody cares about you like you do/should. You are your own best advocate!
Posted 8/31/2007 2:41 AM (GMT 0)

Lizzy 4450 is right about the retinal transplants.  It is a very interesting study.  There was a small study done, and now they are recruiting for a larger study.  So far, things are looking great.  The doctor who spoke on the topic at the Young Parkinson's of Indiana Symposium, has a very long name.  He  is Dr. Thyagarajan Subranian, from the Penn. St. College of Medicine, Hersey, PA.  If you type in his name, you may be able to find this interesting and promising study.  He has many awards and memberships, and was a well spoken doctor!

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