Former teacher Barry Mansfield sits in his home, behind the medication he has to take daily to treat symptoms of his advanced Parkinson's disease. image credit: Black Press files. A small number of British Columbians suffering from Parkinson's disease will soon be able to try the costly medication Duodopa, with fees covered by the province, as long as they have no other option of treatment. In a statement released Tuesday, Health Minister Terry Lake said he's been in discussion with Parkinson Society British Columbia and the Pacific Parkinson's Research Centre about the high cost of the drug and its effectiveness. Duodopa is a gel that is injected directly to the small intestine, pumping once every minute, which helps with absorption of other necessary medications. Physicians at the research centre will identify suitable patients and submit requests for PharmaCare coverage under the ministrys special authority program. Coverage is expected to be granted for a "small number of patients who are clinically appropriate" and may benefit from Duodopa therapy. Other qualifications include that other therapies, such as deep-brain stimulation surgery, are not feasible for the patient. Earlier this month, a group of residents in Hope launched a website, after they found out … Continue reading →

A recent Mayo Clinic Health Letter reported on progress in treating those suffering from Parkinsons disease. What it did for me was trigger memories of pasts encounters Ive had with sufferers. I go back to childhood in an Eastern Ohio small town of my youth. There was a neighbor man who seldom came out of his house, and when he did, he would often drop something. So we kids said he was ill with dropsy, our thoughtless diagnosis. Now, I know that it was Parkinsons disease he suffered from. Then a few years ago I was acting as a caregiver and worked with a Parkinsons disease homebound man in a lovely old house in Carson City. He lived with his sister after a career as an architect, and aside from trembles in his hands was quite normal. I saw him once a week for two or more hours, depending on how he was feeling. He was taking regular medications which he said seemed to help, but standing was difficult. He bragged about hiring someone to help when he needed a bath. We had interesting chats at least to me and he was clearly upbeat about his condition. Back to the … Continue reading →

New research suggests a simple blood test may be as accurate as a spinal fluid test when trying to determine whether symptoms are caused by Parkinsons disease or another atypical Parkinsonism disorder. Neurologists explain that in early stages of disease, it can be difficult to differentiate between Parkinsons disease and atypical parkinsonism disorders (APDs). Disorders include multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration can have overlapping symptoms. Early identification of these diseases is important because expectations concerning progression and potential benefit from treatment differ dramatically between Parkinsons and APDs. We have found that concentrations of a nerve protein in the blood can discriminate between these diseases as accurately as concentrations of that same protein in spinal fluid, said study author Oskar Hansson, M.D., Ph.D., of Lund University in Lund, Sweden. The nerve protein is called neurofilament light chain protein. It is a component of nerve cells and can be detected in the blood stream and spinal fluid when nerve cells die. For the study, found online in the journal Neurology, researchers examined 504 people from three study groups. Two groups, one in England and one in Sweden, had healthy people and people who had been living with Parkinsons … Continue reading →