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

[Micael Granstrom <mgranstrom@xxxxxxxxxx>]

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Micce Granstrom

At 20.03 1996-12-16 -0500, you wrote:
>>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
>============================================================================
>