Last week we received an e-mail from a reader stating:
I read in one of your articles that there is a medication presently in clinical trials, that is neuroprotective for Parkinson's disease. This is serious business for Parkinson's patients. Please provide me with a contact who can verify this. Thank you.
This is serious business, so we chose our words carefully. We should report that they may provide some neuroprotection. We've gone back to check and make sure that we were not overly optimistic. We have never wanted to create false hope.
There are a few examples where the combination of optimistic patients, drug companies, and scientists creates a hopeful community. However, the optimism has never resulted in reality.
Rasagiline, now marketed as Azilect, was one of the more recent drugs the Parkinson's community hoped would provide neuroprotection. We fear that its neuroprotective power has not been confirmed, nor is it impressive enough to tout. We also hope our fear is unfounded.
A heart medication, Isradipine, is one of the latest drugs that scientists are examining for possible neuroprotective benefit. Northwestern University is reportedly leading the clinical trial on it. You can learn more by following this link. Still, it is very preliminary.
The search for neuroprotection continues as the FDA reviews istradefylline. There are also large, ongoing studies with coenzyme q10 and creatine. Furthermore, there are some doctors who think that levodopa provides neuroprotection. Nevertheless, no proven neuroprotection strategy exists.
