The Science of Parkinson's: The mannitol clinical trial results

Not sure if anyone posted this before as it is from Feb 4th. Dr. Simons mentions our HU community.

scienceofparkinsons.com/202...

[Farooqji]

Interesting comments from one of the readers

"Hi Simon.

Thanks for your blog. Unfortunatelly, since 2019 it has become one of my most visited webs.

As a 46 yo Pharmacist with PD diagnosed in 2019, I am each day more convinced that our only hope in mid term is cell transplantation.

We know nearly NOTHING of underlying disease mechanism, we keep on testing potential therapies acting on biological compounds whose real role remains uncertain.

No surpirse we always pass from excited optimism with preclinical data to bitter dissapointment when clinical results become available.

I don’t want to sound killjoy, but the first thing needed to develop a disease-modifying drug is to have a clear therapeutical target.

Let’s keep on researching, of course, specially in basic research in order to one day, we arrive to understan WHAT is really happening, WHY is it happening and HOW we can attack/prevent/slow/stop it.

Because of my work, i read a lot of scientific articles and papers and I know how clinical research works, I know how little efficacy must be shown to get FDA or EMA approval, and how most new drugs provide nearly insignificant clinical outcomes. That’s why I’m afraid that even if, by chance, we find ANYTHING that`d work, It wouldn’t make a real difference in our lives

But in the meantime, we, the patients, are running out of time. Each day we feel slower, more decoordinated and rigid. We don’t walk or run as we used to, our arms don’t wave and our feet don’t rise. We are cars running out of petrol with blindfolded mechanics trying to find the leak.

Maybe they will find it or maybe they won’t but what if we refill the tank and try to gain more kilometers of authonomy?

Of course I know things are not that simple, that we don’t know yet if graft would be safe and effective in the long term and that the procedure is risky and highly experimental but, as a “young” patient having his life ruined, I’d gladly take the chance.

Cheers and keep on workin’ as you do!!!!"

[MBAnderson in reply to Farooqji]

"We are cars running out of petrol with blindfolded mechanics trying to find the leak." Sounds about right.

[Despe in reply to Farooqji]

Farooq,

I was so impressed by this comment! Exactly my sentiment.