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- THE WEEK, Page 30HEALTH & SCIENCEParkinson's Progress
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- Three new studies show that fetal-tissue transplants do help
- patients
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- One of the most promising experiments in the treatment of
- Parkinson's disease involves the use of fetal-tissue
- transplants. At least 100 patients worldwide have had such
- tissue injected into their damaged brains. Now the first major
- published studies from teams that pioneered the technique
- document startling improvements in some patients. Following
- operations, Parkinson's sufferers who had trouble performing the
- most ordinary chores slowly became able to walk without falling,
- assume more care of themselves and even drive a car, according
- to three reports in the New England Journal of Medicine. It is
- not yet clear, however, whether the benefits are temporary or
- permanent.
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- Federal support of such fetal-tissue research is currently
- banned in the U.S as a result of the Reagan and Bush
- administrations' desire to placate antiabortion forces who
- feared that women would terminate pregnancies to provide tissue
- for transplants. President-elect Clinton opposes the ban.
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