posted October 25, 2006 11:34 AM              

Russ Limbaugh even has the audacity to state that Michael J. Fox has to "prove" his Parkingson's Disease to him. He doesn't have to prove anything to a brain dead moron like Russ Limbaugh.

However, Limbaugh's running off at the mouth and insulting someone as well liked as Michael J. Fox may have done more to help the Dems than anything that Michael J. Fox or anyone else could have done or said. Thanks for being the stupid moron that you are, Limbaugh. Between you and Ann Coulter's diarrhea of the mouth the Dems have all the help they need to get elected.

Limbaugh: Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's 'Acting'
Doctor Calls Limbaugh's Claim 'Ludicrous'

POSTED: 7:17 am EDT October 25, 2006
UPDATED: 9:11 am EDT October 25, 2006

They say all politics is local, but it's not always the case," Fox says in the 30-second commercial backing Senate candidate Claire McCaskill in Missouri, a Democrat. "What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans -- Americans like me."

Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and supports research on embryonic stem cell for a potential cure, also has lent his celebrity to Democrats Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, running for the Senate in Maryland, and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, who is seeking re-election. Both politicians also back stem cell research.

The ads have triggered a backlash, with some criticizing them as exploitive. Conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh has claimed Fox was acting.

"This is really shameless, folks. This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting, one of the two," Limbaugh said.

"He is an actor, after all," Rush said later.

"He is exaggerating the effects of the disease," Limbaugh told listeners. "He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act."

"This is the only time I've ever seen Michael J. Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has," Limbaugh said. "He can barely control himself."

Limbaugh later said he could be wrong and would apologize if Fox could prove he was not acting.

Dr. John Boockvar, a neurosurgeon and assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical Center at New York's Presbyterian Hospital, called Limbaugh's claim "ludicrous." Boockvar said those with Parkinson's have "on" and "off" spells.

"If there is one single disease that has the highest potential for benefit from stem cell research," Boockvar said Tuesday, "it's Parkinson's."

Celebrities have a long history of supporting political candidates. But there's no question that Fox, who campaigned for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race, is uniquely suited as a spokesman for stem cell research.

Fox, 45, who starred on TV's "Family Ties" and "Spin City" plus the "Back to the Future" films, shakes and rocks as he directly addresses the camera, the effects of his disease clearly apparent.

"The reason that he's powerful is that he's comparatively young," says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director for the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center. "As a result, a lot of people in that age range can look at him and say, `If that can happen to him, it can happen to me."'

Jamieson notes that the stem cell issue has the potential to be an advantage to Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections since polls have shown the majority of Americans favor some form of stem cell research. Critics say it requires the destruction of a human embryo.

The risk, Jamieson adds, is that the ads could appear as using Fox's hopes for a cure for political gain, as some claimed was the case when the paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve lobbied for stem cell research before his death in 2004.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic, progressive disorder of the central nervous system that leaves patients increasingly unable to control their movements.

Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991 and revealed his condition publicly in 1998. In 2000, he quit full-time acting because of his symptoms and founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which has raised millions of dollars.

He has since acted sporadically in smaller roles, such as in a several-episode guest appearance earlier this year on ABC's "Boston Legal," playing a business tycoon with cancer.

For that role and others, Fox generally has sought to control his movements, though his illness was evident. He told The Associated Press in January that one long scene was physically taxing and that because of Parkinson's disease, he "can't show up with a game plan."

My note: Becuase of Russ Limbaugh's stupidity he can't seem to show up with a game plan either.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

posted October 25, 2006 12:04 PM              

What an an a$$hole!

posted October 25, 2006 03:28 PM              

Totally insensitive,
Totally clueless!!!

posted October 25, 2006 03:41 PM            

Limbaugh was still wrong for saying that Fox does not have Parkinson's. However Fox came down with the disease is speculation as most under 50 year old men suffer from the disease "post MPTP" use, I doubt his was due to carrying the predisposition - especially since he has also admitted designer drug use in the past (of which MPTP was a big one).

Ironically, several people here call Limbaugh a pill popping moron - yet - we see Fox suffering from being a "drug injecting" moron eh?

posted October 25, 2006 06:24 PM              

quote:

---

this is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting, one of the two.--rush limbaugh

---

Dr. Daniel emails:

the chorea that Michael J Fox has in that ad comes from chronic use of dopamine agonists in the context of Parkinson’s. They’re movements from the medicine, not the disease itself. Although he might have odd movements OFF of his meds, they wouldn’t look like the ones in the ad. They’d look like the Parkinson’s-like presentation of Muhammed Ali’s Dementia Pugilistica.

In addition, those movements are hard to imitate accurately because they stem from circuits between the basal ganglia and cortex that you can’t just turn off or on. Those aren’t volitional circuits. There is little chance he was acting, and if he was, he could only accentuate slightly movementse already had. In other words, this is as tragic as it looks.
crooksandliars

Chorea
A general term for nervous disorders characterized by involuntary, random, jerking movements of muscles in the body, face, or extremities http://www.michaeljfox.org/parkinsons/glossary.php

posted October 25, 2006 06:31 PM            

But I will be happy to oblige- especially since my college thesis was about Parkison's disease and the advent of cellular transplantion. It has been something that I have followed closely for over 10 years..

But hey, I'll get that information for ya.

PS... the bradykinesia I was talking about IS as a result of Parkinson's as well. In another interview MJF said he took himself off the medication in order to drive the point home to Congress about what Parkinson's does to the body.The body slows but jerks at the same time.

posted October 25, 2006 06:36 PM            

Motor symptoms
The cardinal symptoms are:

tremor: normally 4-7Hz tremor, maximal when the limb is at rest, and decreased with voluntary movement. It is typically unilateral at onset. This is the most apparent and well-known symptom. However, an estimated 30% of patients have little perceptible tremor; these are classified as akinetic-rigid.
rigidity: stiffness; increased muscle tone. In combination with a resting tremor, this produces a ratchety, "cogwheel" rigidity when the limb is passively moved.
bradykinesia/akinesia: respectively, slowness or absence of movement. Rapid, repetitive movements produce a dysrhythmic and decremental loss of amplitude. Also "dysdiadokinesia", which is the loss of ability to perform rapid alternating movements
postural instability: failure of postural reflexes, which leads to impaired balance and falls.
Other motor symptoms include:

Gait and posture disturbances:
Shuffling: gait is characterized by short steps, with feet barely leaving the ground, producing an audible shuffling noise. Small obstacles tend to trip the patient
Decreased arm swing: a form of bradykinesia
Turning "en bloc": rather than the usual twisting of the neck and trunk and pivoting on the toes, PD patients keep their neck and trunk rigid, requiring multiple small steps to accomplish a turn.
Stooped, forward-flexed posture. In severe forms, the head and upper shoulders may be bent at a right angle relative to the trunk (camptocormia).
Festination: a combination of stooped posture, imbalance, and short steps. It leads to a gait that gets progressively faster and faster, often ending in a fall.
Gait freezing: "freezing" is another word for akinesia, the inability to move. Gait freezing is characterized by inability to move the feet, especially in tight, cluttered spaces or when initiating gait.
Dystonia (in about 20% of cases): abnormal, sustained, painful twisting muscle contractions, usually affecting the foot and ankle, characterized by toe flexion and foot inversion, interfering with gait. However, dystonia can be quite generalized, involving a majority of skeletal muscles; such episodes are acutely painful and completely disabling.
Speech and swallowing disturbances
Hypophonia: soft speech. Speech quality tends to be soft, hoarse, and monotonous.
Festinating speech: excessively rapid, soft, poorly-intelligible speech.
Drooling: most likely caused by a weak, infrequent swallow and stooped posture.
Non-motor causes of speech/language disturbance in both expressive and receptive language: these include decreased verbal fluency and cognitive disturbance especially related to comprehension of emotional content of speech and of facial expression[3]
Dysphagia: impaired ability to swallow. Can lead to aspiration, pneumonia, and ultimately death.
Other motor symptoms:
fatigue (up to 50% of cases);
masked facies (a mask-like face also known as hypomimia), with infrequent blinking;[4]
difficulty rolling in bed or rising from a seated position;
micrographia (small, cramped handwriting);
impaired fine motor dexterity and coordination;
impaired gross motor coordination;
Poverty of movement: overall loss of accessory movements, such as decreased arm swing when walking, as well as spontaneous movement.

[edit] Non-motor symptoms

[edit] Mood disturbances
Estimated prevalence rates of depression vary widely according to the population sampled and methodology used. Reviews of depression estimate its occurrence in anywhere from 20-80% of cases.[5] Estimates from community samples tend to find lower rates than from specialist centres. Most studies use self-report questionnaires such as the Beck Depression Inventory which may overinflate scores due to physical symptoms. Studies using diagnostic interviews by trained psychiatrists also report lower rates of depression.
More generally, there is an increased risk for any individual with depression to go on to develop Parkinson's disease at a later date.[6]
Seventy percent of individuals with Parkinson's disease diagnosed with pre-existing depression go on to develop anxiety. Ninety percent of Parkinson's disease patients with pre-existing anxiety subsequently develop depression); apathy or abulia.

[edit] Cognitive disturbances
slowed reaction time; both voluntary and involuntary motor responses are significantly slowed.
executive dysfunction, characterized by difficulties in: differential allocation of attention, impulse control, set shifting, prioritizing, evaluating the salience of ambient data, interpreting social cues, and subjective time awareness. This complex is present to some degree in most Parkinson's patients; it may progress to:
dementia: a later development in approximately 20-40% of all patients, typically starting with slowing of thought and progressing to difficulties with abstract thought, memory, and behavioral regulation.
memory loss; procedural memory is more impaired than declarative memory. Prompting elicits improved recall.
medication effects: some of the above cognitive disturbances are improved by dopaminergic medications, while others are actually worsened [7]

[edit] Sleep disturbances
Excessive daytime somnolence;
Initial, intermediate, and terminal insomnia;
Disturbances in REM sleep: disturbingly vivid dreams, and REM Sleep Disorder, characterized by acting out of dream content;

[edit] Sensation disturbances
impaired visual contrast sensitivity, spatial reasoning, colour discrimination, convergence insufficiency (characterized by double vision) and oculomotor control
dizziness and fainting; usually attributable orthostatic hypotension, a failure of the autonomous nervous system to adjust blood pressure in response to changes in body position
impaired proprioception (the awareness of bodily position in three-dimensional space)
reduction or loss of sense of smell (microsmia or anosmia),
pain: neuropathic, muscle, joints, and tendons, attributable to tension, dystonia, rigidity, joint stiffness, and injuries associated with attempts at accommodation

posted October 25, 2006 06:38 PM            

The symptoms of Parkinson's disease result from the loss of pigmented dopamine-secreting (dopaminergic) cells and subsequent loss of melanin, secreted by the same cells, in the pars compacta region of the substantia nigra (literally "black substance"). These neurons project to the striatum and their loss leads to alterations in the activity of the neural circuits within the basal ganglia that regulate movement, in essence an inhibition of the direct pathway and excitation of the indirect pathway.

The direct pathway facilitates movement and the indirect pathway inhibits movement, thus the loss of these cells leads to a hypokinetic movement disorder. The lack of dopamine results in increased inhibition of the ventral lateral nucleus of the thalamus, which sends excitatory projections to the motor cortex, thus leading to hypokinesia.

There are four major dopamine pathways in the brain; the nigrostriatal pathway, referred to above, mediates movement and is the most conspicuously affected in early Parkinson's disease. The other pathways are the mesocortical, the mesolimbic, and the tuberoinfundibular. These pathways are associated with, respectively: volition and emotional responsiveness; desire, initiative, and reward; and sensory processes and maternal behavior. Disruption of dopamine along the non-striatal pathways likely explains much of the neuropsychiatric pathology associated with Parkinson's disease.

The mechanism by which the brain cells in Parkinson's are lost appears to center on an abnormal accumulation of the protein alpha-synuclein bound to ubiquitin in the damaged cells.alpha-synuclein-ubiquitin complex cannot be directed to the proteosome. This protein accumulation forms proteinaceous cytoplasmic inclusions called Lewy bodies.

Excessive accumulations of iron, which are toxic to nerve cells, are also typically observed in conjunction with the protein inclusions. Iron and other Transition metals such as copper bind to neuromelanin in the affected neurons of the Substantia nigra. So, neuromelanin may be acting as a protective agent. Alternately, neuromelanin (an electronically active semiconductive polymer [2]) may play some other role in neurons. That is, coincidental excessive accumulation of transition metals, etc. on neuromelanin may figure in the differential dropout of pigmented neurons in Parkinsonism. The most likely mechanism is generation of Reactive oxygen species[3].

Iron induces aggregation of synuclein by oxidative mechanisms [4]. Similarly, dopamine and the byproducts of dopamine production enhance alpha-synuclein aggregation. The precise mechanism whereby such aggregates of alpha-synuclein damage the cells is not known. The aggregates may be merely a normal reaction by the cells as part of their effort to correct a different, as-yet unknown, insult. Based on this mechanistic hypothesis, a transgenic mouse model of Parkinson's has been generated by introduction of human wild-type á-synuclein into the mouse genome under control of the platelet-derived-growth factor-â promoter. [12]

posted October 25, 2006 06:43 PM              

*********

What is MPTP and how does it shed light on Parkinson’s?

The remarkable story of MPTP began in 1982. A group of students in California developed severe Parkinson’s-like symptoms almost overnight after they had taken a ‘designer drug’ with heroin-like effects. Chemical detective work established that the offending agent was not the drug itself, but a contaminant called MPTP. But the story did not stop there, because it emerged that MPTP is strongly attracted to the dark pigment found in dopamine-producing cells in the brain and tends to collect in them at high concentrations. Once inside, MPTP is converted by an enzyme called monoamine oxidase (MAO) into another substance which kills the cells containing it, causing the Parkinson’s-like symptoms.

posted October 25, 2006 06:49 PM            

MPTP appears to be selectively toxic to the cells in the substantia nigra and can very rapidly produce all the primary symptoms of Parkinsons. In 1976, a 23-year old chemistry grad student was synthesizing MPPP in the school’s chem lab.

MPPP (methyl-phenyl-propionoxy-piperidine) is a synthetic opioid with action similar to heroin.

The unfortunate young chem student unknowingly made a mistake in the synthesis and injected the result. Within three days he was severely Parkinsonian. The National Institute of Health investigated and discovered that the compound he made was contaminated by MPTP. They studied the neurotoxic effects of MPTP by testing it on rats.

The young man was initially diagnosed as schizophrenic. The onset of symptoms was so sudden that doctors at first couldn’t conceive of it as Parkinsons.

Eventually the patient was put on a levodopa drug and responded well, just as a true Parkinsons patient would. Two years later, the young man committed suicide.

The autopsy showed cell destruction in the substantia nigra, the same as is found in Parkinsons patients.

MPPP continued to be made and sold as synthetic heroin. In 1982 the inevitable happened once again.

Seven young people in California were diagnosed with Parkinsons after using MPPP contaminated with MPTP. Neurologist J. William Langston realized that MPTP was the cause and successfully treated three of the seven using experimental drugs, and adrenal and fetal implants.

He subsequently wrote a book, The Case of the Frozen Addicts about his search for a cure.

There are differences between drug-induced Parkinsons symptoms and Parkinsons Disease. Drug-induced Parkinsons sypmtoms are severe within a matter of days after taking the drug and, upon autopsy, all neural damage is found in the substantia nigra.

In Parkinsons disease, progression is gradual and other areas of the brain are also affected. However the conclusion remains that most, if not all, of the motor symptoms of Parkinsons are produced by damage in the substantia nigra.

This article is for informational purposes only. It does not purport to offer medical advice.
http://www.ageless-beauty.com/parkinsons.html

Street-Drug Contaminant causing Parkinsonism
by U.S. Center for Disease Control
June 22, 1984
From CDC's MMWR Weekly 33(24);351-2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following information was submitted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health, and has been sent to state alcohol and drug abuse agencies and drug treatment programs.

Recently, a street-drug contaminant has appeared that can cause parkinsonism in drug abusers. The compound N-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) has been identified in underground laboratory preparations of a potent analog of meperidine (Demerol).

Over the past 8 years, sporadic outbreaks of MPTP-induced parkinsonism have occurred among drug abusers in California, Maryland, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Two different synthetic methods were used by the underground chemists, and, in both instances, MPTP was present as a side product in the final drug preparation used or sold in conjunction with these outbreaks. The MPTP-containing powder, sometimes sold as a new "synthetic heroin," was dissolved in water and administered intravenously or taken by the intranasal route. This contaminant has been documented to produce irreversible chronic parkinson symptoms in drug abusers. Two deaths in Vancouver, British Columbia, have been attributed to use of this drug.

MPTP-induced parkinsonism in man is remarkably similar to idiopathic Parkinson's disease. All the major clinical features of Parkinson's disease are present: generalized slowing and difficulty moving, rigidity, resting tremor, flexed posture, and loss of postural reflexes. In addition, neurochemical abnormalities resembling those seen in patients with Parkinson's disease have been noted. These symptoms and signs subside temporarily after treatment with L-dopa or with bromocriptine, drugs used in treating Parkinson's disease. The neurotoxicity of MPTP has produced a severe, permanent parkinsonian syndrome in a number of drug abusers who continue to require treatment. Based on autopsy findings in one case, MPTP appears to destroy nerve cells in the substantia nigra, an area of the brain that plays a major role in controlling movement.

Since some cases of MPTP-induced parkinsonism have been misdiagnosed as catatonic schizophrenia, careful diagnostic evaluation and appropriate treatment are indicated.

While the instances of MPTP-induced parkinsonism have been limited to relatively few individuals, the possibility of far greater public health impact must be considered, because more drug-abusing individuals than those already identified have probably been exposed, and the effects of the drug appear to be cumulative and may not appear for several years.

Further studies of patients with MPTP-induced parkinsonism are currently under way at the National Institute of Mental Health.

If patients with suspected MPTP-induced parkinsonism are identified or if additional information is needed, contact Dorynne Czechowicz, M.D., Assistant Director for Medical and Clinical Affairs, Division of Prevention and Communications, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, National Institute on Drug Abuse, at (301) 443-6780.

Disclaimer All MMWR HTML documents published before January 1993 electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.

At what age does Parkinson's disease normally appear?

The median age of onset is about age 65. Parkinson's disease in someone under the age of 60 is considered to be early-onset Parkinson's disease. But it's much rarer in younger people. It affects about 1 percent of people over age 60. However, in individuals under 50 years, it's about 50 per 100,000, and for people under 40 years, it's fewer than 5 per 100,000.

What causes early-onset Parkinson's disease?

Nobody knows entirely. In Parkinson's disease, in general, there is probably a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In early-onset Parkinson's disease, it's thought that the genetic factors are more common. In people with early-onset Parkinson's disease, you often have a family history, and about 50 percent of patients have a mutation in the gene called parkin.

_____________________

Funny... I wonder about his family linkage with Parkinson's since 50% of those have the gene- yet Fox never mentions it.

He was diagnosed at the age of 30

MPTP was HUGE in his days on Family Ties....

But.. I'll find the information for ya - I mean, hell, it is much easier to call Rush a pill-popping moron that it is to believe a Liberal Hollywood celebrity had an illegal drug habit.

posted October 25, 2006 07:01 PM            

Michael J. Fox & Crew Come Down with Parkinson's Disease, and the News Media Isn't Telling the Whole Story

The Globe & Mail (Toronto, March 21) reports that four people who worked on a television sitcom filmed in Vancouver in the late 1970s, which includes actor Michael J. Fox, have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The news media is focusing their attention on the possibility that some environmental toxin was involved in this Parkinson's cluster. Michael J. Fox, who will appear on a TV documentary in April, talks about this disease, but never gives a hint that there is another likely cause.

A neurotoxic street drug, MPTP, used by young people in the 1970s, appears to be selectively toxic to the cells in the substantia nigra, the part of the brain affected by Parkinson's disease. MPTP is capable of producing virtually all the signs and symptoms of otherwise unexplained Parkinson's. MPTP was first tested for its possible therapeutic use in 1947, but animals that were given the drug became rigid and unable to move and eventually died. After six humans were given the drug and developed Parkinson's symptoms and two died, the drug was abandoned. However, the production of another compound, MPPP (an illicit narcotic compound), which is molecularly similar to MPTP was also found to produce similar symptoms.

The first case of MPTP causing parkinsonism occurred in 1976 when a young college student who manufactured and abused MPPP made a mistake in his recipe and produced MPTP. Within three days he exhibited severe symptoms. His family thought he was schizophrenic. In 1982 MPPP was again manufactured and illicitly sold in the street as synthetic heroin. Soon thereafter contaminated batches containing MPTP were being sold on the streets, and young users paid a terrible price. Young people were admitted to hospitals with severe end-stage Parkinson's symptoms. The source was tracked to MPTP which was found to cause permanent damage to the brain cells of the substantia nigra.

It is unknown whether Michael J. Fox ever tried street drugs like MPTP, but the cluster of Parkinson's cases is not likely to be caused by any environmental toxin. Michael J. Fox may be the poster boy to raise money for Parkinson's research, but kids aren't getting the right message. Don't fool around with street drugs. The consequences may be irreversible.

Illicit drugs are not the only pharmaceutical agents that can induce Parkinson's symptoms. Chlorpromazine and haloperidol, for example -- prescribed for patients with psychiatric disorders, may cause symptoms. Some drugs used for stomach disorders (metoclopramide) and high blood pressure (reserpine) may also produce parkinsonian symptoms.

"Peanuts and grapes come in clusters, does PD? News that Michael J Fox and 3 young co-workers developed PD prompted reports of other PD clusters. Fox and 3 co-workers with PD were among 125 people who in the 1970's worked on a Canadian TV show called "Leo and Me." 4 cases of young onset PD (onset at 40 years or younger) among 125 people is unusual. PD each year strikes 1 in 10,000 people nearly always older (age 60 years or older) than Fox and friends. The odds of 4 young people developing PD are 1 in 20,000. Whether this cluster is, like so many others, is just bad luck, or whether this cluster, like some clusters will point to clue, a clue toward solving PD is not now known.

____________________________________
If the "Michael J Fox Syndrome" is related to a toxin or an infection (a virus) in the work place, why were only 4 people affected? Why not all 125? Were the 4 in an area in which there was a higher concentration of the toxin or the virus? Or were they genetically more susceptible? Or were the 4 exposed to a toxin or a virus outside the work-place. A toxin or a virus to which the remaining 121 workers weren’t exposed? If the 4 were exposed to a virus why weren’t other people affected such as their spouses or bed-partners? If such a toxin or virus existed in the 1970's are there other clusters of young people with PD? Is PD increasing among young people, young people from different geographical regions who were, in the 1970's exposed to a similar toxin or virus? A silent toxin or a secret virus which, initially, like a stealth bomber, caused no symptoms, raised no alarms, but years later ate away at and wrecked the brain resulting in PD? And how likely is it that 30 years later this silent toxin or secret virus will be found?"

This article continues with:

One cluster in which young people were exposed to a toxin, a toxin which was later shown to cause PD, is the cluster of drug addicts in Northern California in 1982 described by J. William Langston in his book, "The Case of the Frozen Addict." Langston remarks:

The doctors who initially examined the 7 addicts had never seen anything like it. The addicts, terrified, frozen, unable to move, watched helplessly as the doctors argued back and forth. "Maybe," thought the addicts, "the heroin they had bought, and injected, was to blame."

More doctors came, and went, they prodded the addicts, they banged them with reflex hammers, they shone lights in their eyes. No one knew what they had:. The addicts looked like they had PD. But in young people? And in a cluster?

Later it was shown by Langston and Stan Burns that the 7 addicts had developed a PD-like disorder as a result of injecting themselves with heroin contaminated with a chemical called MPTP. MPTP was shown to act as a guided missile specifically destroying nerves cells in the substantia nigra, the same nerve cells destroyed in typical PD. The difference between MPTP-PD and typical PD is that in typical PD the dead and dying cells contain a round structure called a Lewy body that is missing in MPTP-PD and in post encephalitis PD.

MPTP has become a means of investigating drugs for PD. And the absence of Lewy bodies in MPTP-PD and in post-encephalitis PD reveals something about PD. Find out what it is , like finding the frozen addicts had a PD-like disorder, will bring us closer to understanding PD.
http://www.parkinson.org/site/pp.asp?c=9dJFJLPwB&b=100132

__________________________

It was in an interview where MJF was asked about his MPTP use and he hedged- then the "cluster" was brought up and the answer was clear- but he did not outright state "I used MPTP and now I have PD" that would prevent people from feeling sorry for him.

BUT.. think about it - if less than .005% of people somehow contract PD under the age of 40 and 50% of those inherit it genetically, 4 of the other 125 people that worked with MJF (and shot heroin / MPTP) contracted PD..... well, do the math.

But it makes sense when I consider those that are living in a Liberal Dreamland where celebrities can do no wrong, 9-11 was caused by the President and lizard men are coming to conquer the world would also believe MJF was just one of those straight and narrow child hood actors / stars that would never, ever use drugs......"cue music for that Walgreen's commercial"

Oh and yes... some of the medication can cause the jerky movements- and stem cells from fetal tissue transplants can actually blow out the dopamine receptors as the adult brain is not used to the over-production of dopamine that is the result of these newly formed receptors.

posted October 25, 2006 07:12 PM            

Does that mean I feel that someone with PD that contracted the disease as a result of drug use is any less valid that someone that inherited the disease? No, not at all.

I do think that it is ironic that people are calling Limbaugh a pill popper as though that negates his opinion when MJF is so closely linked to a drug that causes PD.

posted October 25, 2006 07:17 PM            

"The median age of onset is about age 65. Parkinson's disease in someone under the age of 60 is considered to be early-onset Parkinson's disease. But it's much rarer in younger people. It affects about 1 percent of people over age 60. However, in individuals under 50 years, it's about 50 per 100,000, and for people under 40 years, it's fewer than 5 per 100,000."

MJF is in the 5 / 100,000 (or less than .005%) category as he was diagnosed around the age of 32 but didn't go public until later. He started to show symptoms around the age of 30.

Again, I am NOT attacking MJF or those with drug, environmental OR genetically caused PD. I believe how they contracted the disease is irrelevent due to the horrifying nature of the disease.

What I did state was the irony in passing judgement on a pill-popper.

Had I been a drug user and contracted a disease I would still do everything humanly possible to try and find a cure or use my status (in the case of a celebrity) to find a cure.

posted October 25, 2006 08:20 PM              

were they soon admitted to a hospital with severe permanent nervous system damage too....like those others who were poisoned by it?

posted October 25, 2006 11:44 PM            

I too have read the cite where MJF said he goes off his meds to make his testimony more dramatic.

He's pushing federally funded embryonic stem cell research. Such stem cell research is not illegal and is being done all over the world including the United States, funded by private research centers and even the State of California.

To date, cures from embryonic stem cell therapy is zip, nada, zilch, zero. In fact, there are medical opinions on their hazards and apparently some cases where these cells produced tumors.

On the other hand, adult cell therapy has produced some successful treatments.

Michael J Fox and his disease are being used in cynical and lying democrat political campaigns and MJF is permitting himself to be used.

The Unconscionable Claims of Michael J. Fox
October 25th, 2006

The popular and appealing actor Michael J. Fox has taken to the airwaves in Senate battleground states Missouri, Maryland, and New Jersey with a highly misleading ad urging defeat of Republican Senatorial candidates opposing the use of taxpayer dollars to fund new embryonic stem cell line research. He states,

“Stem cell research offers hope to millions of Americans with diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s…. But George Bush and Michael Steele would put limits on the most promising stem cell research.”

Mr. Fox and his ads’ sponsors are guilty of conflating embryonic stem cell research, which the GOP candidates and many Americans oppose for destroying a human life in the name of curing other people’s diseases, with stem cell research in general, which includes adult stem cell research and umbilical cord blood stem cell research.

The only limits in question are on federal funding of new embryonic stem cell lines, requiring the sacrifice of new embryos. Private and state-funded research (California voters are spending six billion dollars borrowing money to fund this) is ongoing. The implicit claim that research based on new embryos is “the most promising” is absurd, completely unsupported by the scientific literature, and an insult to voters, based as it is on the assumption that they are incapable of understanding the issue. Too stupid to tell the difference, is the elitist assumption underlying this campaign.

Flim-flam is a charitable description. Why would federally-funded research be more promising than state- and privately-funded research? And on what possible basis can the claim be made that embryonic stem cell research is more promising than adult stem cell research?

The plain fact is that embryonic stem cell research is proving to be a bust. There are currently 72 therapies showing human benefits using adult stem cells and zero using embryonic stem cells. Scientifically-minded readers can review this medical journal article on the status of adult stem cell research. Adult stem cell therapies are already being advertised and promoted while no such treatments are even remotely in prospect for embryonic stem cell research.

The fact is that adult stem cells have already produced remarkable cures, whereas embryonic stem cells have failed. This should come as no great surprise to anyone with a background in high school biology. When an embryo is created by the union of the sperm and egg, the cells begin to divide, creating embryonic stem cells from which all future tissues and organs are derived. Within days, the embryonic cells differentiate into three cell layers – ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. Cells in these layers continue to differentiate into tissues and organs. As the embryo matures into a fetus, child, and adult, some undifferentiated cells of the three types remain in various tissues such as bone marrow, fat, skin and olfactory tissue.

These adult stem cells are multipotent: they have the ability to turn into a variety of types of tissues. Successful stem cell therapies cause the DNA in the adult stem cells to further differentiate into more specific types of cells. There is no point in getting the adult stem cell to turn into a less differentiated type of cell, or using the more primitive embryonic stem cells. This would be going backward, in the opposite direction of providing a clinically useful therapy. Difficulties abound with proposed embryonic stem cell therapies. The growth of the more primitive embryonic stem cells is more difficult to control and leads to tumor formation. Recent research suggests brain tumors may result. Additionally, the use of embryonic tissue foreign to the patient can potentially lead to problems with immune rejection of tissue, a problem not encountered in using a patient’s own adult stem cells.

America is the most formidable medical research center in the world, but it is far from alone in pursuing the potential of adult stem cells. The worldwide effort is impressive and growing. For non-adult stem cell research, a morally unquestionable alternative source exists: stem cells drawn from umbilical cord blood. Already a bank exists in Dubai collecting cord blood stem cells.

In short, the claims made in the Michael J. Fox political ads are false and reprehensible, an insult to the voters of Maryland, Missouri and New Jersey, and to all Americans.

posted October 26, 2006 10:04 AM              

Now you are blaming Michael J. Fox's Parkingson's Disease on designer drugs. Totally unbelievable!!!

Thanks for the lesson on Parkingson's Disease, Pidaua. Maybe with the claimed medical knowledge you have you should take some sensitivity training to go along with it.

I am sure you and the others here would be a whole lot more sensitive if you had to suffer from Parkingson's Disease as Michael J. Fox and others do. Then you might have the sensitivity to know that it doesn't matter what causes it when someone is suffering.

posted October 26, 2006 12:44 PM            

I stand by what I said and I have absolutely no guilt for it. MJF abused a drug- how many times he used it, no one knows. It isn't an instant reaction- which is why people were developing PD in their 30's and 40's unless they took a bolus as did the idiot chem student.

You can reduce this argument into a joke if you feel it makes you feel like a better man. Insinuating that the drug was only made one time in 1976 by one rogue chem student is assinine as I have already produced the documented evidence of the drug and it's use over 1980's. I can blast you with more evidence from scientific journals if you need more proof, but sadly it isn't proof you are looking for, rather a justification for your rabid defense of another liberal.

Mirandee,

Calling us Neocons does not change the fact that the media crucified Rush yet you are all here sniveling over MJF as though he is some hero when in fact his past drug use contributed it what he had.

Let me spell it out again - 5 in 100,000 people develop Parkinsons under the age of 40 (MJF was 32 when fully diagnosed) out of that .005% half have the genetic marker that predispositions them to develop Early or Young onset PD - if this was the case in MJF's life- I guess he would have said so right?

MPTP was used among many people during the 1980's specifically young celebrities. Four people that MJF worked with (young) developed Parkinson's and are also connected with drug use.

Again - do the math. Live in denial all that you want but I find it to be incredibly hypocritical for people calling Rush a drug addict turning around and accepting MJF with open arms.

posted October 26, 2006 12:59 PM              

For everything jwhop said about stem cell therapy.

posted October 26, 2006 01:03 PM              

For everything jwhop said about stem cell therapy. Sometimes we're so damn eager to be sensitive and compassionate and PC we forget to think.

posted October 26, 2006 01:05 PM            

"Again, I am NOT attacking MJF or those with drug, environmental OR genetically caused PD. I believe how they contracted the disease is irrelevent due to the horrifying nature of the disease.

What I did state was the irony in passing judgement on a pill-popper.

Had I been a drug user and contracted a disease I would still do everything humanly possible to try and find a cure or use my status (in the case of a celebrity) to find a cure. "

Oh wait... was Mirandee wrong? Oh how could the self-appointed master of sensitivity and unbiased goddess not see that? Was it due to her overwhelming hatred and bitterness towards any conservative?

Hmmm... I'll let other's be the judge. LOL