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chickenologist t1_j8grw8r wrote

By the time Parkinson's is diagnosed, 80-90 % of the relevant diamond m dopamine neurons are dead. It's kind of like raising the volume on a call with a bad connection. It kind of helps, but at some point your just amplifying noise and there's not enough good signal no matter how loud you make it.

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bbob_robb t1_j8itlj4 wrote

What about before Parkinson's is diagnosed, earlier in the progression? Could it delay the onset of symptoms, or reduce the amount impact?

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chickenologist t1_j8qg16w wrote

That's the hope. Similar but different is delaying with l-dopa that makes dopamine production easier. Same idea. Turn up the gain on a fading signal.

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