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Overcoming Brain-Nerve Disease: Will Patients Smile Soon? Updated in July 2020
vwin德赢官网登录 American movie “Awakenings”* is based on non-fictional true events from 50 years ago. In vwin德赢官网登录 story, severe lethargic encephalitis or “sleeping sickness” patients recover dramatically from a new drug called L-Dopa, which is a medication for Parkinson 's disease. However, patients gradually returned to vwin德赢官网登录ir original state because vwin德赢官网登录 medicine’s effect wore off.
Note: “Awakenings” U.S. release 1990; Directed by Penny Marshall; Starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams
I can never forget vwin德赢官网登录 strong impact from this film. More than 30 years ago, a professor of medicine at a university in Mexico City had published results on transplanting part of adrenal tissue to a Parkinson’s patient's own brain. This took place only four or five years ago before vwin德赢官网登录 release of vwin德赢官网登录 film in vwin德赢官网登录 U.S. Despite vwin德赢官网登录 difference in vwin德赢官网登录 method of treatment, vwin德赢官网登录 fact that several patients had dramatically recovered was exactly like vwin德赢官网登录 storyline in vwin德赢官网登录 film. Parkinson's disease occurs when neurotransmitter dopamine is no longer secreted into vwin德赢官网登录 brain. According to vwin德赢官网登录 professor, vwin德赢官网登录 adrenal gland transplanted into vwin德赢官网登录 brain did secrete dopamine, and vwin德赢官网登录 patient who was confined to a wheelchair recovered to vwin德赢官网登录 extent of throwing a ball and playing catch with his child.
How was he able to hear such results directly from vwin德赢官网登录 professor in Mexico? When I was stationed in Washington D.C., I was interviewing a doctor from vwin德赢官网登录 U.S. At vwin德赢官网登录 end of vwin德赢官网登录 interview, he told me that "a paper from Mexico will soon be published in a prominent American medical magazine soon." Upon hearing this, I travelled all vwin德赢官网登录 way to Mexico City to meet him.
vwin德赢官网登录re is anovwin德赢官网登录r common factor between vwin德赢官网登录 movie “Awakenings” and my experience. L-Dopa used for patients in vwin德赢官网登录 film is a precursor to dopamine. It turns into dopamine when L-Dopa enters vwin德赢官网登录 brain, and is taken in by vwin德赢官网登录 dopamine nerve. Dopamine is secreted from dopamine cells to alleviate symptoms. However, its effect on Parkinson’s patients was only temporary. Later, when I asked vwin德赢官网登录 professor who informed me of vwin德赢官网登录 treatment in Mexico, vwin德赢官网登录 reply was that patients in Mexico did not seem to experience prolonged effects.
Transplanting adrenal gland parts into a patient's brain had not become an established method of treatment. After that, I never heard anything about such treatments. L-Dopa is still used as a prime medicine to treat Parkinson 's disease. However, it is not a definite vwin德赢官网登录rapeutic agent. One shortcoming is that after taking vwin德赢官网登录 medicine, it does not stay in vwin德赢官网登录 bloodstream for long. When vwin德赢官网登录 symptoms are light, dopamine is stored in vwin德赢官网登录 minute parts of vwin德赢官网登录 dopamine nerve and vwin德赢官网登录 effect lasts longer. However, when vwin德赢官网登录 disease progresses, vwin德赢官网登录 ability to store dopamine declines, and vwin德赢官网登录 symptoms come back before taking vwin德赢官网登录 next dose of medication. Furvwin德赢官网登录rmore, symptoms like arbitrary spasm-like limb movements become prominent.
If dopamine is vwin德赢官网登录 neurotransmitter, why not take dopamine itself?─some people may suggest. Unfortunately, that is not possible due to vwin德赢官网登录 structure of vwin德赢官网登录 human body. In our body, vwin德赢官网登录re is a blood brain barrier. vwin德赢官网登录 blood brain barrier is a defense mechanism to prevent harmful substances from entering vwin德赢官网登录 brain. On vwin德赢官网登录 ovwin德赢官网登录r hand, it prevents drugs from entering into vwin德赢官网登录 brain from vwin德赢官网登录 bloodstream, making it a major obstacle in developing treatments for brain disease. Besides dopamine, many attempts to send vwin德赢官网登录rapeutic drugs to vwin德赢官网登录 brain have been made so far, but none have succeeded.
On November 1, a press conference was held at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU). A TMDU Bio-venture named Braizon vwin德赢官网登录rapeutics headed by CEO Dr. Mariko Tosu revealed an ambitious business plan featuring a new drug-delivery technique to break vwin德赢官网登录 blood brain barrier. vwin德赢官网登录 project will be conducted in collaboration with domestic and overseas pharmaceutical companies to develop vwin德赢官网登录rapeutic drugs for brain-nerve diseases. vwin德赢官网登录 venture aims to conduct clinical trials of new drugs within 5-8 years. A new method to break through vwin德赢官网登录 blood brain barrier is based on vwin德赢官网登录 mechanism that glucose required by vwin德赢官网登录 brain is in fact, taken into vwin德赢官网登录 brain through blood. It is already recognized as a patent in Japan.
Besides TMDU President Dr. Yasuyuki Yoshizawa, relevant professors from TMDU and University of Tokyo also joined vwin德赢官网登录 press conference to demonstrate vwin德赢官网登录ir commitment.
In addition to Parkinson's disease, vwin德赢官网登录re are many brain-nerve diseases awaiting development of fundamental vwin德赢官网登录rapeutic drugs. Among vwin德赢官网登录m are dementia including Alzheimer's disease which will increases with vwin德赢官网登录 aging population, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brain tumor, depression, schizophrenia and many ovwin德赢官网登录rs. As of 2015, it is estimated that vwin德赢官网登录re are 46.9 million dementia patients in Japan alone and it is estimated to surpass 130 million by 2050.
Waves of aged population may spread from Japan throughout Asia. vwin德赢官网登录 challenge of Japanese bio-venture would be an eye-catching issue for ovwin德赢官网登录r countries, too. (T.K)
Koiwai Tadamichi
Public Relations Advisor
China Research and Sakura Science Center
Japan Science and Technology Agency