Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

hippydog2 t1_j9s6dgj wrote

maybe it's just me, but that does sound like a major break thru?

77

OneWorldMouse t1_j9sitkg wrote

Knowing the different ways neurons die and preventing their deaths are giant leaps.

34

habeus_coitus t1_j9s8qtb wrote

Let’s wait until the results have been replicated. Parkinson’s research got majorly burned by that somewhat recently.

edit: got it wrong

27

Standard_Yogurt_1460 t1_j9sb3ti wrote

Parkinson's too? I thought it was Alzheimer's.

17

habeus_coitus t1_j9t9ci4 wrote

Ah crap you’re totally right, I got them mixed up. I guess I’ll blame it on Alzheimer’s, if only fake research had cured it by now.

6

Darkhorseman81 t1_j9swtfp wrote

Excess S-Nitrosylation blocks it's function in most cases. Mutation would be a rare exception.

We've know this for a while, but they have just shown an extra mechanism by which it happens.

It's why nitrogen pollution from exhaust fumes is linked to parkinsons.

14

accidental_snot t1_j9vf290 wrote

The earth's atmosphere is 80% nitrogen. What does it matter if it's in exhaust? Bonded with something to make some toxic molecule?

1

Apprehensive_Ad1744 t1_j9vpujw wrote

Atmospheric nitrogen just nitrogen, N2, which is relatively inert.

Nitrogen in exhaust are nitrogen oxides, namely NO and NO2, which are quite toxic.

6

eruborus t1_j9vrc1f wrote

It's research seeking to confirm a hypothesis. It needs to be replicated in mammalian cell line and then in an animal model. Drug development and clinical trials therafter. Bench to bedside in 15-20 years. Hard to say if is a breakthrough before that...ask the Alzheimers researchers.

2

Roughneck16 t1_j9rv0ev wrote

What do current treatments consist of?

17

pace_gen t1_j9ry1mv wrote

Levodopa is the most commonly prescribed drug for Parkinson's. It is absorbed in the intestine and the brain converts it to dopamine, which is the brain chemical that powers normal movement but decreases in Parkinson's disease (PD).

33

Please_Log_In t1_j9skj7l wrote

Big Pharma always recommends medicalization over lifestyle changes: their priority is profits

EDIT: i'm not denying the need for medication, in many cases it's the best way to treat symptoms.

I'm just cynical about medicalization in general.

−43

vomex45 t1_j9sm63e wrote

Parkinson's is not the sort of thing that can be fixed with lifestyle changes. "Big Pharma" making Carbidopa/Levodopa is the sole reason my dad has been even remotely functional for the last 15 years.

42

Beyond-Time t1_j9sn1vm wrote

There is truth for your statement, but the is the wrong thread. There is no lifestyle change that will fix Parkinson's. Perhaps you're a bit account, who knows

23

pace_gen t1_j9tk378 wrote

My dad and grandfather both had Parkinson's. The medicine came a long way between them. We were happy pharmaceutical companies took the medicines to the next level.

6

Kasspa t1_j9ucp8n wrote

You do know what Parkinsons is right? Do you think Michael J Fox could just change his lifestyle, and things would get better for him?

4

Honigwesen t1_j9ske1v wrote

There are none.

Levodopa and the rest are just treating the symptoms. There's nothing to stop progress or even reverse it.

16

Wolfm31573r t1_j9srs5k wrote

True, L-DOPA only treats the symptoms. If the dopaminergic neurons are already dead at the later stages of the disease, the only way to treat the disease instead of the symptoms would be by dopaminergic neuron transplantation. That stuff its still quite far. At the earlier stages some drugs that can modify the proteostasis in the cells could be usefull, but they are still in development, and even in optimistic scenarios it would take half a decade for them to be available as a treatment.

3

vomex45 t1_j9sn9el wrote

There is a number of dugs that can be used in conjunction with each other, namely Levodopa along with others like Carbidopa. Some are prescribed to increase the effectiveness of L-dopa and some are for fighting momentary flare-ups of symptoms, often called "off" times.

There is also a deep brain stimulation operation that can be an option but typically only around 10-15% patients become good candidates for it and less get the operation.

Both these avenues are only strategies to treat symptoms and do not alter the course of the disease. Patients that live long enough will eventually become dependant on the drugs to have any level of functionality at all.

4

nearfar47 t1_j9ssxpf wrote

Actually DBS is close to being a standard of care, esp in younger people.

1

InTheEndEntropyWins t1_j9t2h8r wrote

Sleep, diet and exercise.

Linking into this study, when you sleep you brain removes waste products. Exercise increases blood flow, also removing waste products. So that might partly be the mechanism for how they help.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/parkinsons-disease/fighting-parkinson-disease-with-exercise-and-diet

2

lifeisalime11 t1_j9um42b wrote

Man, this sleep/diet/exercise stuff seems super important for… literally everything

5

Whito4 t1_j9t6jvh wrote

Could periodic fasting (which induces autophagy) maybe help slow the onset of Parkinsons?

13

Darkhorseman81 t1_j9swnof wrote

Excess S-Nitrosylation blocks it's function in most cases. Mutation would be a rare exception.

It's why Nitrogen pollution is linked to Parkinsons, and why things like Poppers are potentially quite dangerous.

4

Not_as_witty_as_u t1_j9sajry wrote

Is that amyloid plaques?

2

mattrussell2319 t1_j9slcco wrote

These aren’t plaques in the figure, it’s an experiment to show autophagy induction. The structure in panel G’’ in the figure that also appears as a red dot in the colour images, is associated with autophagy, a process of removing and recycling cell waste. The red shows where one of the autophagy proteins is. Here, an Endophilin A1 mutant is used that doesn’t need a calcium signal to turn it on. So they’ve shown that this ‘on’ state makes autophagic structures form.

Later in the paper they show that a different mutation of Endophilin A1 associated with Parkinson’s is an ‘off’ state mutation, and inhibits autophagy. So you’d see fewer of those autophagic structures, and since autophagy helps clear the stuff that causes plaques, this PD associated mutant could lead to plaque formation.

8

nearfar47 t1_j9si7z6 wrote

alpha-synuclein is believes to be part of the mechanism of pathology in PD. Beta-amyloid plaques is associated with Alzheimer's, but so is tau.

3

AutoModerator t1_j9rke3g wrote

Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

DamonFields t1_j9v6w6k wrote

Has anyone tried pemf treatments?

1