Parkinson's disease affects the way you move. It happens when there is a problem with certain nerve cells in the brain. Normally, these nerve cells make an important chemical called dopamine. Dopamine sends signals to the part of your brain that controls movement. It lets your muscles move smoothly and do what you want them to do. When you have Parkinson's, these nerve cells break down. Then you no longer have enough dopamine, and you have trouble moving the way you want to. Parkinson's is progressive, which means it gets worse over time. But usually this happens slowly, over many years. And there are good treatments that can help you live a full life. No one knows for sure what makes these nerve cells break down. But scientists are doing a lot of research to look for the answer. They are studying many possible causes, including aging and poisons in the environment. Abnormal genes seem to lead to Parkinson's disease in some people. But so far, there is not enough proof to show that it is always inherited. The four main symptoms of Parkinson's are: Tremor may be the first symptom you notice. It's one of the most common signs … Continue reading →

08:32 05 March 2015 by Rebecca Day Carol Freeman, Sue Filby, Ian Maitland and David Powell inside the chamber Archant A Letchworth-based charity is offering oxygen therapy treatment to injured soldiers after being inspired by how the treatment helped a former paratrooper who lost both legs and suffered brain damage after fighting in Afghanistan. Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in. The Hertfordshire Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre wants anyone who has sustained injuries while serving in the armed forces to come forward, to see if the treatment can help change their lives like it did for soldier Ben Parkinson. Ben who lost both legs and was in a coma for four months from a bomb explosion can now walk using crutches, and has improved speech after he underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy, in which pure oxygen is breathed through a mask in a special chamber. Charity chief executive Mark Boscher, pictured above right, said: We were so inspired by Bens story and thought: wouldnt it be brilliant if we could make contact with injured people living locally, and help them just like Ben was helped? Read this article: Letchworth charity … Continue reading →

March 5, 2015 Credit: Thinkstock Brett Smith for redOrbit.com @ParkstBrett Researchers at Northwestern University have announced a cancer-treatment breakthrough based on three decades of work. According to a report published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the use of added oxygenation suppresses accumulation of adenosine in the tumor microenvironment and weakens immunosuppression. The oxygenation treatment could enhance cancer immunotherapy and reduce tumors by releasing anti-tumor T lymphocytes and normal killer cells. [STORY: Death from cancer is best, doctor says] This discovery shifts the paradigm of decades-long drug development, a process with a low success rate, said Michail Sitkovsky, a professor of immunophysiology and pharmaceutical biotechnology at Northeastern University. Indeed, it is promising that our method could be implemented relatively quickly by testing in clinical trials the effects of oxygenation in combination with different types of already existing immunotherapies of cancer. The findings build upon Sitkovskys three decades of study, which has been supported by both Northeastern and the National Institutes of Health. 40-60% oxygen Around ten years ago, Sitkovsky made an critical cancer-related discovery in immunology, a receptor on the outside of immune cells, called the A2A adenosine receptor, is accountable for stopping T cells from penetrating tumors and for … Continue reading →