Parkinson’s disease affects the central nervous system, causing tremors and muscle rigidity. French researchers have found a way to reduce these side effects.
According to teams from the universities of Bordeaux 1 and 2, restoring the production of the GRK6 protein that controls dopamine receptors would reduce the most common symptoms of this disease which affects over 100,000 Canadians.
It is a lack of dopamine in the brain that causes these motor problems. Right now, this lack is replaced by L-dopa, but the latter causes, over the years, side effects like spasms. By increasing the production of GRK6, the side effects are nonexistent.
Erwan Bezard of the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) in France says, "This advance shows that we are looking at the right molecule. But we are aware that the technique we used will not be quickly accessible to people. We need to have other ideas to propose solutions adapted to the needs of Parkinson’s patients."