Health Issues for the Aging
One of the diseases that creates a burden on our health care system, especially among the aged, is Parkinson's disease. At present, there is no known cure for Parkinson's, merely treatments that can help to reduce the symptoms. This makes it difficult to develop a public health solution to Parkinson's. On the prevention side, one of the challenges is that while there have been some risk factors potentially identified, the reality is that there is no known cause either. For example, a meta-analysis suggest that living in a rural area, drinking well water, farming and exposure to pesticides all might be risk factors (Priyardashi et al, 2001). The current state of research at present is such that the different forms that Parkinson's takes are being studied (Peto, et al, 1995). Moreover, the different ways that Parkinson's presents can also bring about a number of different complications, from which the need for treatment arises. One example is that PD patients suffer from gastrointestinal issues at a higher rate than the general population – the link is known but the mechanisms by which this link occurs are not (Natale et al, 2008).
There have actually been a number of studies that show promise in getting to a cure for Parkinson's. One study showed that alpha-synuclein synaptic pathology might help in providing direction for a cure (Bellucci et al, 2012). Disruption of the brain-blood barrier may be a causal factor, and thus a pathway to a cure (Lee & Pienaar, 2014). A substantial body of research shows that cannabinoids are effective in treatment of Parkinson's symptoms, owing to the neuroprotective properties of cannabinoids (Carroll, Zeissler, Hanemann & Zajicek, 2012). Several studies of self-reporting Parkinson's patients support this, showing that many take cannabis to medicate, and that nearly half find this to be effective (Venderova et al, 2004).
Because so little is known about Parkinson's, most of the public policy response has been aimed at ensuring funding is available to researchers....
References
Belluci, A., Navarria, L., Zaltieri, M., Missale, C. & Spano, P. (2012). Alpha-synuclein synaptic pathology and its implications in the development of novel therapeutic approaches to cure Parkinson's disease. Brain Research. Vol. 1432 (2012) 95-113.
Carroll, C., Zeissler, M., Hanneman, C. & Zajicek, P. (2012). ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (?9-THC) exerts a direct neuroprotective effect in a human cell culture model of Parkinson's disease. Neuropathy and Applied Neurobiology. Vol. 38 (2012) 535-547.
Investors.com (2017). Adamas Parkinson's drug is double the cost of analyst expectations. Investors' Business Daily Retrieved November 20, 2017 from https://www.investors.com/news/technology/adamas-parkinsons-drug-cost-is-double-analyst-expectations/
Lee, H. & Pienaar, I. (2014) Disruption of the blood-brain barrier in Parkinson's disease: Curse or a route to a cure? Frontiers in Bioscience. Vol. 19 (2014) 272-280.
Liptak, K. (2017). White House: Feds will step up marijuana law enforcement. CNN. Retrieved November 20, 2017 from http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/politics/white-house-marijuana-donald-trump-pot/index.html
Natale, G., Pasquali, L, Ruggieri, S., Paparelli, A. & Fornai, F. (2008). Parkinson's disease and the gut: A well-known clinical association in need of an effective cure and explanation. Neurogastroenterology and Motility. Vol. 20 (2008) 741-749.
NINDS (2017). Focus on Parkinson's disease research. NINDS.NIH.gov. Retrieved November 20, 2017 from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Current-Research/Focus-Research/Focus-Parkinsons-Disease
Peto, V., Jenkinson, C., Fitzpatrick, R. & Greenhall, R. (1995) The development and validation of a short measure of functioning and well-being for individuals with Parkinson's disease. Quality of Life Research. Vol. 4 (3) 241-248.
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