The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998/Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso/P/Parkinson's_disease/INFOTEXT

Text File | 1992-09-02 | 1KB | 26 lines

Of mobility, muscular rigidity, tremor, and
speech difficulties. The condition is mainly
seen in people over the age of 50.
Parkinson's disease destroys a group of cells
called the substantia nigra (`black
substance') in the upper part of the
brainstem. These cells are concerned with the
production of a neurotransmitter known as
dopamine, which is essential to the control
of voluntary movement. The almost total loss
of these cells, and of their chemical
product, produces the disabling effects. The
introduction of L-dopa in the 1960s seemed at
first the answer to Parkinson's disease.
However, it became evident that long-term use
of the drug brings considerable problems. At
best, it postpones the terminal phase of the
disease. Brain grafts with dopamine-producing
cells were pioneered in the early 1980s, and
attempts to graft Parkinson's patients with
fetal brain tissue have been made. In 1989 a
large US study showed that the drug deprenyl
may slow the rate at which disability
progresses in patients with early Parkinson's
disease.