NIH/NINDS Creatine Study Press Release

If you are interested in research going on in the Parkinson’s world that might affect the atypical parkinsonism disorders, this post may be of value to you.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has organized a nationwide effort called NET-PD (Neuroprotection Exploratory Trials in Parkinson’s Disease), a randomized, double-blind futility trial, to study compounds that may slow the clinical decline of Parkinson’s disease.  Creatine and the antibiotic minocycline were identified as agents worthy of preliminary study.

In a press release on the study that was released in conjunction with the World Parkinson Congress in Feb ’06, the lead investigator said that a “clinical trial with 200 Parkinson’s disease patients has shown that creatine and minocycline may warrant further consideration for study in a large trial.”

Here’s a link to the press release titled
“Preliminary Results Shows Creatine and Minocycline May Warrant Further Study in Parkinson’s Disease”:

www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/press_releases/pressrelease_parkinsons_20060223.htm

The bottom line is this:

“The trial investigators note that while encouraging, this pilot study does not have sufficient numbers of patients or duration of follow-up to recommend that patients with Parkinson’s take either agent.  In fact, the investigators caution Parkinson’s patients and their physicians not to interpret the results of this study as suggesting such a course of treatment.  Further study is required before the researchers can conclude whether creatine or minocycline is in fact helpful, harmful or has no significant impact.”

Robin

Arctic ground squirrel clears out tau during hibernation

The PSP Family Conference, put on by the Society for PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy), was held last Saturday near SFO.

As I had attended the ’04 PSP Family Conference and had heard Dr. James Tetrud speak before, I had different expectations of what he would say at this year’s conference.  He is the neurologist at The Parkinson’s Institute who probably knows the most about Atypical Parkinsonism disorders, such as PSP, LBD, MSA, and CBGD.  I compared his slides from ’06 to ’04, and was disappointed that there was nothing new to report in the area of research with one exception:  at last Saturday’s conference he mentioned the Arctic ground squirrel.

During a 7-month hibernation, the squirrel’s brain loses many of the nerve-cell connections that govern how it operates.  Tau protein accumulates in the brain — just like with Alzheimer’s Disease and PSP.  (I’m sorry to say that I don’t know the pathology of the other Atypical Parkinsonism diseases.)  Within 2 to 3 hours of emerging from hibernation, there is a wave of neuronal growth and tau is eliminated.  Thus, there appears to be a mechanism to clear tau.

Dr. Tetrud referred to a recent Economist magazine article on the subject.  I consider myself to have excellent follow-through and research skills but I was outdone on both of these fronts by Sam, a support group member who also attended the Saturday conference.  He found the article in the Feb. 4th issue (page 72).  Here’s a link to the article:

www.economist.com/node/5466196

Dementia
Sleeping on it
Similarities between dementia and hibernation suggest a treatment
The Economist
Feb 2nd 2006

It’s interesting reading!  Let’s hope something comes of it…

Robin

Suggested gadgets (utensils and bed canes)

At the last support group meeting, some of us were talking about two gadgets in particular — weighted utensils and bed canes.  I said I’d follow up with a couple of folks about these gadgets.  Rather than just sending the follow-up email to those couple of people, I thought I’d include everyone.

UTENSILS

There was a disability conference in SJ last year.  There was a workshop devoted entirely to gadgets.  The presenter passed around some weighted utensils and explained that these were useful to those with Parkinson’s.  I’m sure many of you have seen the utensils with the large, black Oxo handles (ergonomic, soft, big grip).  (The assisted living center where my Dad lives ordered a set at my request.  They paid $20/each.)  The presenter made of point of saying that while those were good, the weighted ones were better.  Somehow the weight sends a signal to the brain that there’s something for the hand to grip.  The presenter works for activeforever.com (phone 800/377-8033).  I ordered the weighted soup spoon ($7.95, item #A17040 04) and weighted fork ($6.95, item #A17040 01) for my Dad.  The weighted utensils do improve my Dad’s grip and he’s better able to eat on his own.  If I had to do it again I’d probably get only the spoon.  Note that when someone else is holding the utensil and helping with the feeding, you will want to use a regular spoon.  The weighted soup spoon is purposely deeper than other soup spoons; we’ve found that the regular spoon works better if someone else is doing the feeding.  One other feature of these weighted utensils that we don’t really value but others might is that they are bendable.  This company distributes all sorts of accessibility and convenience products.  Another one I’ve purchased from them is a plastic scoop dish ($4.95, item #A17023); this is handy to have.

BED CANES

My dad has two — a regular one and a travel one.  The regular one is called a BedCane from Standers, Inc. (stander.com – company name ends in S but the web address doesn’t).  The handle is wide, very sturdy, and somewhat cushioned.  The handle attaches to a solid wood base, which is tied to the mattress.  The whole thing is very sturdy.  I think we paid $60 for this.  The travel bed cane is called TravelHandles from Bed Handles (bedhandles.com).  They cost $110 for a box of two handles.  Another support group member and I recently split the cost and each got a handle.  For us, one handle is sufficient.  It worked great in Acapulco with my Dad last week!  The only caution I would have is that the handle is a bit large; it would only fit in our large suitcase.  We also have the non-travel version called the Original Bedside Assistant; I would say the travel version feels just as sturdy although the travel handle is made from aluminum.

If any of you have a gadget you’d like to recommend, send me an email and I’ll distribute it to the wider group.

Robin