Parkinson’s disease study underway

Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, a part of the North Shore Long Island-Jewish Health System, will help study whether a nutritional supplement helps slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease. The large-scale clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to be conducted at 51 organizations in the United States and Canada, will study the effects of creatine.
“The goal is to improve the quality of life for people with Parkinson’s for a longer period of time than is possible with existing therapies,” said Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, Director of the NIH.
Currently there is no treatment to slow the spread of Parkinson’s, although certain drugs, such as levodopa, can reduce symptoms. Parkinson’s patients often develop symptoms such as progressive tremors, slowness of movements, and stiffness of muscles, and at least one million people in the United States are affected by the disease, which is a degenerative disorder in the brain.
The NIH believes that the new study - a double blind, placebo-controlled, phase III research project - is one of the largest Parkinson’s clinical trials to date. Begun on Wednesday, March 21, the study is expected to last two to three years. Organizers hope to enroll 1,720 people with early-stage Parkinson’s disease in total nationwide and in Canada. Patients involved will have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s within the past five years and those who have been treated for two years or less with levodopa or similar drugs.
Although the creatine is not currently an approved therapy for any condition, it is widely believed to improve exercise performance. Recently Parkinson’s researchers identified the supplement as having a possible effect on the spread of the disease.
“We are excited to be part of this innovative study aimed at modifying the progression of Parkinson’s disease,” said Dr. Andrew Feigin, who will lead the study at the Feinstein Institute. Feigin has researched creatine and Parkinson’s since 2002.
Feinstein, based in Manhasset, Long Island, will be one of two organizations in New York involved in the study - State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn is the other.