Researchers Find the Chemical that Causes Parkinson's Disease

In a recent press release, researchers have announced that they have identified a key chemical in the brain that causes Parkinson's disease. Calling this a breakthrough finding, their discovery could be the beginning of finding a way to improve the treatment that is given to people who have Parkinson's disease.

An estimated 1.5 million Americans suffer from Parkinson's disease. Researchers at St. Louis University School of Medicine announced their discovery and hope it will serve to improve the treatment offered to Parkinsons's patients.

Since scientists have discovered how Parkinson's actually begins, they can now proceed to look for more treatments options and for better ways to stop its development. Scientists have known that a chemical has had an important role in Parksion's disorder, but have just now learned the full role and true signifance of that chemical's role.

This is what scientists knew before this research study. The chemical alpha-synuclein is found throughout the brain cells. It is a protein. Sometimes this protein clumps together. When this happens, it kills the dopamine-producing cells. The lack of dopamine-producing cells is what causes Parkinson's to develop.

In their breakthrough research, researchers have learned that dopamine itself contributes to killing the very cells that produce it. When our bodies convert dopamine into a toxic chemical called DOPAL, the DOPAL itself is what makes the alpha-synclein protein clump, which in turn kills dopamine producing cells and causes Parkinson's.

"We believe this work represents a very significant breakthrough in understanding the complicated chemical process that results in Parkinson's disease," said William J. Burke, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Parkinson's disorder is often characterized by a person's inability to stop shaking, have tremors, rigidity and stiffness, and difficulty with their balance.