Fishing for New Ways to Stop Parkinson’s, a Researcher Makes Big Catches in the Gene Pool
Superstar geneticist Haydeh Payami, Ph.D., has spent the past two decades searching for a different type of DNA. In a series of studies she calls “fishing expeditions,” Payami has been trawling the genome for bits of DNA that can help explain the mysterious patterns seen in Parkinson’s disease: Why do smokers have a much lower risk of getting the disease? What role does the immune system play in Parkinson’s? Why do some people get the disease in their teens, while it appears in others in their late 80s?
A good article about something that has been developing for over six years now.
It makes it sound as she is the only person working on this, and that The USA is the only country looking at personalised medicine but interesting and hopeful nonetheless.
Hi Beckey. I read this article with great interest and can't help wondering why we, as Pd patients, are interested in what we can do to avoid getting Pd? We already have Pd!
Yes, our children, who are important to us, can gain from this knowledge, but would I recommend taking up smoking to avoid Pd? No! I used to smoke and gave it up about 2 years before my 1st symptoms arrived on the scene. As Pd takes many years before symptoms start to show, I obviously had Pd while I was still smoking.
As far as coffee is concerned, I also drank several cups of coffee a day at he time I was diagnosed, and that did not stop me from getting Pd either. I never took any anti-inflamatories in those days.
The article is about neuro protection and you give your opinion, which was dismissive of the report saying "can't help wondering why we, as Pd patients, are interested in what we can do to avoid getting Pd? " then your personal experience re smoking and coffee, two things that are probably neuro protective.
Exercise is the third thing that is probably neuroprotective. However it does not appear to stop people developing Parkinson's, just as you stated coffee and cigarettes didn't stop you getting It.
I find it interesting that exercise helps after and wonder why exercise does not stop PD developing.
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