New Parkinson Treatment Hope

A simple and cheap device that stimulates the spinal cord with electricity could bring new hope to sufferers of Parkinson's disease, it has been claimed.
Early research in mice and rats using the approach has proved dramatically effective.
Experts believe if the technique works in humans it could provide a passport to normal living for thousands of Parkinson's patients.
The progressive disease affects motor nerves in the brain, causing tremors, loss of balance and muscle stiffness.
Drugs can reduce symptoms in the early stages but then cease to be effective.
Around 120,000 people in the UK suffer from Parkinson's, with 10,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
One radical remedy for the condition is deep brain stimulation (DBS), which involves inserting carefully placed electrodes deep into the brain. But the treatment is costly, invasive and not suitable for everyone.
The new stimulation therapy, targeting the spinal cord instead of the brain, would be much easier and cheaper to administer.
Professor Miguel Nicolelis, from Duke University in North Carolina, who led the research described in the journal Science, said: "We see an almost immediate and dramatic change in the animal's ability to function when the device stimulates the spinal cord.
"Moreover, it is easy to use, significantly less invasive than other alternatives to medication, such as deep brain stimulation, and has the potential for widespread use in conjunction with medications typically used to treat Parkinson's disease."
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