It's not snake oil, and it's not today, but it is a step

[Barbara Patterson <patterso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From Canadian Press as published in last week's Hamilton (Ontario,
Canada) Spectator

Degenerative Disease Breakthrough Made by Kingston (Ontario, Canada)
Scientists

A breakthrough made by two Queen's University medical researchers may
help scientists conquer degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and
Multiple Sclerosis.

Clinical neurologist Dr. Rick Riopelle and biochemist Greg Ross have been
able to demonstrate in a laboratory how drugs can stop neuro-degenerative
disorders, such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and ALS
(Lou Gehrig's Disease).

The researchers, working at the Apps Medical Research Centre in Kingston
General Hospital, have discovered the conditions that block a
self-destructive process in cells.

Results of the two-year study were published Friday in Science magazine.

"We're very excited," said Mr. Ross.  "It really gives us a whole new
view of approaches we may take to developing drugs that could be useful
in treating these disorders."

The breakthrough has personal meaning for Mr. Ross.  His 70-year-old
grandmother died from the neuro-degenerative disorder Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis.

"It's a devastating disorder," he said.

The researchers examined two protein molecules, one a receptor and the
other a signal for cells to destroy themselves.  They were able to
develop a drug that blocked the receptor so that the self-destruct
message didn't get through.

The process is necessary, said Mr. Ross, so that cells in the brain can
be eliminated when they make wrong connections.

"Cells have to have the ability to kill themselves," said Mr.. Ross, "and
during development in people under the age of two years old, the
ability...is an absolute requirement.

"But the problem is that the cell may inappropriately use these same
mechanisms in the mature nervous system, where you don't want these cells
to die."

Mr. Ross said the discovery won't produce immediate results for sufferers
because the drug researchers used can't be used for treatment because
it's dissolved by the body too quickly.

But the discovery will be key in determining the kind of drug that could
stop such degenerative diseases, Mr. Ross said.

That could take more than a decade, he added.

 ===========================================================================
Barbara Patterson                               patterso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
HSC 2J22                                        905-525-9140, ext. 22403
                        School of Nursing
 ===========================================================================