Cancer drug shows promise for reversing symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, small U.S. study shows | CTV News

A small but encouraging study appears to show that a drug
already available on the Canadian market has the potential to reverse symptoms
of Parkinson’s disease, lending new hope to researchers looking for cures to
neurodegenerative diseases.
The U.S. study of just 12 people is considered preliminary,
and its findings have yet to be confirmed by large-scale research. But early
results seem to show surprisingly positive signs, say researchers at the
Georgetown University Medical Centre.
The dozen patients involved -- six with Parkinson’s disease,
six with a similar condition called Lewy Body dementia -- were given the drug
Tasigna, typically used for patients with leukemia, and instructed to take it
once a day.
Researchers believe Tasigna works as a sort of neurological
garbage bin; through a process called autophagy, the drug appears to dispose of
neurotoxic proteins that cluster in the brain, leading to improvements in
neurological function.

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