http://www.viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/news.LR.htm
14th January 2009 - News release
michael j.fox foundation funds six new approaches
The Michael J. Fox Foundation is funding six new approaches for Parkinson's disease. Two of the projects are assessing the effects of drugs normally used for other medical disorders. One team will investigate the potential of Simvastatin (a drug currently used to treat high cholesterol) to reduce dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease. Another team will assess the effect of Isradipine (a drug for high blood pressure) in its ability to relieve dopamine producing neurons from degeneration that occurs in Parkinson’s disease. The biochemistry of these two drugs is completely unrelated to Parkinson's disease. The Foundation does admit that these approaches seem irrelevant to Parkinson's disease, but claim preclinical studies suggest they might be beneficial.
The Foundation is funding four other projects, including three new types of drugs. One of them aims to show "cerebrospinal fluid based biomarkers measuring microtubule-mediated transport of cargo molecules in neurons are altered in people with Parkinson’s disease." This study is very remote from the known biochemistry of Parkinson's disease, and so does not have the potential to result in anything of practical significance. Funding is also being provided for three new types of drugs: ER-beta selective agonists, type 7 phosphodiesterase (PDE7) inhibitors, and Multiphosphatase Inhibitors. The primary fault in Parkinson's disease is insufficient dopamine formation. Yet none of these three drugs, even in theory, has the potential to increase dopamine formation.
The front page of the Michael J. Fox Foundation web site claims, "We don't just fund research. We fund results." However, despite their good intentions, none of their numerous projects has ever resulted in anyone ever being rid of Parkinson's disease. This is largely because of the faulty scientific basis on which their projects have been based.
Irritated by the negative tone, I emailed the site stating I think one need limit one's negative feedback until a qualified individual could respond to the criticism. I could care less what his opinion is. Unless he can tell me he has an educational background suitable to comment on the funding decisions of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, he needs to keep his mouth shut. I sent the email and began to explore who and what Viartis is.
It seems the site provides information about recent news on Parkinson's disease; information one could acquire through the internet. Though one might assume it is there solely to enlighten, it may have other intentions. Wikipedia, the encyclopedia free and open to input by most people, has banned the individual they claim is Keith Bridgeman, and the person behind Viartis. They claim he has edited the work of other professionals, sending users of written content to Viartis sites. Banned from Wikipedia since June 22, 2006 editors suspect he has infiltrated the on-line encyclopedia and posted information under other aliases- over 400 of them. They call such entities the 'sockpuppets' of General Trojo.
Others suggest the person is a science teacher. Actual students of the teacher think there must be a mistake in identity. According to some, this person is also involved in sailing lessons. Times in which Keith Bridgeman altered information on the Wikipedia, Parkinson site seem to correspond to hours in which pupils would be engaged in test taking or free on break from regular classes.
Whether a mistaken identity, or truly a teacher with a calling to Parkinson's disease, the site would take a lot of time to construct and maintain. News of PD accrues daily. My father, an English teacher in the public schools of Chicago, Illinois never had the time to devote to anything more than grading papers and perhaps watching the evening news, when I was a child.
The nerve the negativity hit was research. In our times, all efforts to clarify issues of PD are worthwhile. All sources of funding provide hope. The Foundation of Michael J. Fox is not without brains, experience and intelligence. They will fund only the best chances- the sea of proposals is deep and money is tight.
3 comments:
You go girl.
Research is about kissing a lot of frogs or in most cases lab rodents and not finding many that become princes.
One of the beauties of Isradipine is that it does cross the blood brain barrier and has indeed been a successful "holding" treatment for PD. It already has "off label" uses and one is for Parkinson's disease.
We have written about it from experience in use vantage point on Parkinson's Focus Today, another blogspot.
We're going to add a link to your site because you have such a frank way of cutting through...
You go girl.
Research is about kissing a lot of frogs or in most cases lab rodents and not finding many that become princes.
One of the beauties of Isradipine is that it does cross the blood brain barrier and has indeed been a successful "holding" treatment for PD. It already has "off label" uses and one is for Parkinson's disease.
We have written about it from experience in use vantage point on Parkinson's Focus Today, another blogspot.
We're going to add a link to your site because you have such a frank way of cutting through...
You obviously could not take the truth and so made unsubstantiated personal attacks to try to distract attention away from the weaknesses of what you wanted to believe. Since then, it is now six years later. NONE of the studies have been shown to be effective in Parkinson's Disease. So the criticisms of them on Viartis have been proven to be ENTIRELY correct. You have been proven to be a gullible AND resentful fool.
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