<h1><b>Possible Disease-Modifying Therapy for Parkinson’s One Step Closer to Patients</b></h1>

Posted by Rachel Dolhun, MD, November 26, 2014 on Michael J. Fox Foundation site.

CBS News in New York shined a spotlight on Parkinson’s research yesterday evening — for good reason. A promising disease-modifying therapy is getting closer to reaching people with Parkinson’s.

Isradipine — a medication currently approved to treat high blood pressure — is being studied to determine if it can influence the course of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Researchers believe the drug works to prevent the death of dopamine-producing cells and therefore might slow the progression of disease. Previous studies have confirmed drug safety and tolerability so testing will now move into a Phase III clinical trial — the largest, and last, stage of drug development testing. The STEADY-PD trial is recruiting over 300 participants with early PD, each of whom will take either isradipine or placebo and be monitored for three years.

Todd Sherer, CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation, told CBS News that isradipine is one of several active research areas in Parkinson’s. The Foundation has invested millions in helping to advance isradipine from the earliest testing in preclinical models to the current Phase III trial testing. Positive results from this study would move a disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson’s one step nearer to pharmacy shelves.

This is good news; however, why must we wait 3 years if it is a drug that is currently approved for the treatment of high blood pressure? Let's give it a shot. Like chicken soup for a cold. Can't help. Can't hurt. I guess if something is worth waiting for, you can bet you will be waiting for it.

As grateful as I am for the efforts of Michael J and the scientists working on PD treatments, I say, with respect, I am ready now.

I was reading "Waiting for Godot"(you can find the entire play on line). At first, I thought it kind of stupid. It's not. If I am right, Godot is all those things you are waiting for in life. Well, my Godot is a cure or some drug/treatment that slows down PD's seemingly inexorable attack. That's first on my list of Godots. Second is a burning desire to win the Mega Lottery and, you know, one of these days I might just buy a ticket. I am told that the odds of winning the Mega are the same as being placed on a football field, blindfolded, and given a pin. An ant is released somewhere on the field and the odds of you sticking a pin in the ant rival the odds of winning the Mega lottery.

Hmmm. I hope the odds of discovering a cure, or new treatment, are not as long as that.