Can Celebrex and Vioxx Treat Parkinsons?
Posted on: Tuesday, 8 April 2003, 06:00 CDT By Jennifer Thomas, HealthScoutNews Reporter HealthScoutNews — Researchers have identified a brain enzyme that might contribute to the progression of Parkinson’s disease. The good news is that arthritis drugs already on the market can block the activity of the enzyme, which means the finding could lead relatively quickly to a new Parkinson’s treatment. “As a clinician, I find the results very exciting,” says Dr. Jay Van Gerpen, a neurologist and specialist in movement disorders at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation who was not involved with the research. “I am cautiously optimistic this could open up real treatment options in staving off the progression of Parkinson’s disease.” The study appears in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disorder of the brain that affects about 1 percent of Americans over age 65. Symptoms include tremors, slowness of movement and muscle stiff
