Japanese Researchers Report Promising Results in the Search for a Cure for Parkinson's Disease

Japanese researchers have reported the results of two years of researcher in Nature, the promising results show that implanted pluripotent stem cells survived and and did not cause dangerous effects in the body. The stem cells also created neural pathways and connected to other neurons as shown by increase movements of the monkey's treated with the stem cells. This is important because researchers thought that implanting pluripotent stem cells into the brain might cause tumors, and they can't be controlled by normal immune-suppressing drugs, it also shows promising results in rebuilding neural pathways after the death of neural cells.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative condition cause by the death of dopaminergic neurons. These neurons control the making of dopamine in certain areas of the brain. Symptoms of the disease are tremors and stiff muscles. Most of the medicine we have for Parkinson's only treat the symptoms of the disease and not the disease itself. This research provides promising results for a treatment, with human clinical trials expected to start at the end of the year. The full research and results are also currently being shared with other researchers in America and Europe working in pluripotent stem cells and on Parkinson's as well as other neurodegenerative diseases.

I thought this article was interesting because it involved promising results using pluripotent stem cells. These differ from the controversial embryonic stem cells in the fact that they are made from your bodies own cells that are coaxed into the embryonic-like stage. While this costs a lot more money to do, and takes months to do, it also removes most of the ethical concerns of use with them. It also allows personal treatments that are tailored to your body, because the cure is made using your own cells. This minimizes the risk of rejection from your body because the cells are your own.  Hopefully with more research and trials pluripotent stem cells will help in curing neurodegenerative diseases.

http://www.nature.com/news/reprogrammed-cells-relieve-parkinson-s-symptoms-in-trials-1.22531