New research could reveal early causes of Parkinson’s disease

A team at Cardiff University is using cutting-edge techniques to help understand the earliest causes of Parkinson’s disease and believe that listening to the “conversations” of brain cells as they develop could help in the research.

Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative condition after Alzheimer’s disease, causing parts of the brain to become progressively damaged over a number of years.

However, relatively little is currently known about its early stages, as much of the damage happens before the appearance of symptoms.

Now the team at Cardiff University believe that by taking cells “back in time”, their findings may aid the search for new treatments.

Dr Dayne Beccano-Kelly, lead researcher, has said of the study “The journey of Parkinson’s we think, is quite a long one.  We might see symptoms at later stages of life, on average at around 65 years old, but we know cells in the brain that are very important for movement and cognition stop working at much earlier stages.

“We also have about 60-80% loss by the time people come into clinic, but we know that doesn’t happen overnight.  So there’s a window of time before cells begin to die in which we may be able to help.”

The researchers are collecting skin cell samples from people with Parkinson’s and from individuals who do not have the condition.  They then “reverse-age” those cells, driving them back in time so that they revert to become stem cells.

They then use various methods to encourage these cells to develop into neurons.  At various stages of the journey, the team attempt to tap into the electrical communication happening between the cells using hi-tech equipment.

By looking at the differences that occur over time in the Parkinson’s cells versus the non-Parkinson’s cells, they hope to better understand the variety of factors that contribute to the condition.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (jacquelinevance@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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