Very Interesting Research

I just read an amazing article realisng the results of a new study about Parkinson’s disease. It has always been thought that PD was the result of the death of Dopamine producing neurons in the brain, but a new study is proving there is more too it than that. 

The group doing the study is being done by a group of scientists from the Emory School of Medicine and the University of Georgia. The object of the research was to find out why people don’t start to exhibit the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease until almost 80% of the dopamine producing neurons are already dead.

The answer appears to be in the chemical norepinephrine – a substance produced naturally by the body. It is commonly associated with adrenaline release in the “fight or flight” response to stress.

According to the study, when the body has a decrease in the amount of dopamine, it produces norepinephrine which then stimulates the reamining dopamine producing cells to work harder, producing more dopamine. So, the actual signs of PD are thus masked until such a time as the overworked norepinephrine cells also begin to die off. When that happens the body begins to finally exhibit tremors, changes in balance/strength etc.

For the full article you can go to  “Medical News Today.”