Brain Scans Show Effectiveness of Gene-Based Therapy for Parkinson's
Through the use of brain scan technology, doctors have been able to determine that a new therapy for Parkinson's is effective.
The first gene-based therapy for Parkinson's disease has been found to be effective following brain scans of patients who received the treatment as part of an on-going trial. The success marks an important landmark for gene therapy, which has never before been used to treat a degenerative brain disease in humans.(Source)
Parkinson's is a problem that hasn't been able to be resolved yet with medicine. As such, researchers are working hard to find ways to offer medical options to people suffering from the disease. This particular research used injections of a gene-modified virus into the affected areas of the brain to limit the effect of the disease on the motor control of the patient.
Brain scans done on the study patients found that after six months of treatments, the patients had an average of thirty percent improvement in their function. Without the scans, it would have been impossible to determine if the treatment itself was beneficial or if the placebo effect was at work. The scans revealed that actual improvment did occur in the brain.
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