Piecing together the Parkinson’s puzzle:
Dr. Harold Robertson explores new treatments and early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease
Dr. Harold Robertson is a world leader in neurological research. His current focus is Parkinson’s disease. “We want to find ways to diagnose Parkinson’s earlier, treat its symptoms better, and slow down the progression of disease,” Dr. Robertson says. The crippling disease – with no known cause or cure – has baffled researchers for years.
Whether it’s through medications or neural transplantation, treating the symptoms relies on regenerating dopamine neurons in the brain. Dopamine neurons help cells in the brain to communicate, a necessary process for normal body function. “In Parkinson’s disease, dopamine neurons in the brain die. The process continues as the disease progresses,” explains Dr. Robertson, professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Dalhousie Medical School. Over time, Parkinson’s disease leaves its victims virtually frozen, trapped in rigid bodies they cannot move.
“The effectiveness of medications varies and they often have extreme side effects. Neural transplantation has shown promising results but it is very inefficient to the point that we haven’t performed the procedure here in the last few years,” notes Dr. Robertson. With the goal of improving both treatment methods, he and his colleagues study the growth of new neurons – how it happens, how it can be encouraged and how it can continue.
Dr. Robertson also explores ginseng’s potential as an effective treatment for Parkinson’s. “Ginseng appears to prevent the effects of a neurotoxin that causes dopamine neurons to die and produces the same symptoms as Parkinson’s disease,” he explains. “We are investigating what the ginseng is doing when it’s blocking the neurotoxin’s effects.”
Dr. Robertson is also on the trail of promising new ways of detecting Parkinson’s disease at earlier, more treatable stages. “The part of the brain that controls smell holds clues for early detection,” says Dr. Robertson. “Through a combination of smell identification tests and diffusion-weighted MRI – imaging that detects nerve circuits in the brain – it may be possible to detect Parkinson’s before symptoms occur.”