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p 20 weekender april 22 1995 st health advances being made in parkinsons research by kate gilderdale correspondent mark guttman is a dedicated neurologist who is strongly committed to the treatment and research of parkinsons disease its one of the areas of neurology where you can really help people quite a bit noted guttman whose practice is located at markham stouffville hospital parkinsons is a chronic brain disease which is characterized by tremor slow movement and mus cle stiffness and is most common ly found in men and women over 55 research in the late 1950s and early 1960s revealed that the dis ease was linked to the loss of a chemical called dopamine which is produced in certain brain cells the area of the brain affected is the substantia nigra said guttman a signal is sent from there to other areas which pro vides feedback for smooth move ment control when the cells die the dopamine which is used as a transmitter is lost the condition is progressive a patient might start with very mild symptoms that might not require therapy the discovery that the disease was linked to the parkinsons is a chronic brain disease which is characterized by tremor slow movement and muscle stiffness and is most commonly found in men and women over 55 satellite tv loss of cells as opposed to structur al abnormalities was an amazing breakthrough he said at the time this research was being done most of the things that were going on in the brain were structural this has opened up huge areas of research and therapy for parkin sons patients although there is a variety of drugs avail able treatment varies widely from patient to patient and even in individ uals at differ ent stages of the disease we have a whole bunch of different thera pies available aimed at reduc ing the symp toms said guttman the dopamine reduction can be replaced by a number of strate gies most medication is used to try and make more or to reduce the loss side affects do occur especially in the later stages of the disease and its a fine line between not enough medication and too much he said theres no evidence that parkinsons shortens life spans or kills people but it can have a major effect on the quality of life before a diagnosis is made other possible causes have to be elimi nated because there is no specific blood test or xray which can sig nal the presence of the disease slowness of movement and stiff ness of the muscles become more pronounced as the disease pro gresses said guttman peoples facial expressions are reduced muscles dont move very fast they have difficulty doing up buttons writing becomes small er and walking is reduced to shuffling small steps although the majority of parkinsons patients are 55 and over i have individu als in their 20s in my practice he noted and although the majority of parkinsons patients are 55 and over dr guttman has individuals in their 20s in his practice and patients come from all over not just york region have two research nurses working with me ifs a team effort he noted one of the things we are involved with is new diagnostic testing brain scans have been developed which can read the level of dopamine in the system indicat ing whether the disease is present and how far it has progressed the prohibitive costs involved in per forming a scan however mean the test is not generally available in addition to his involvement with many different types of research guttman sits on the execu tive of the parkinson foundation of canadas toronto chap ter one of the things that were doing may 13 at the inn on the park is a i see a lot of people from all over not just york region guttman is currently involved in six clinical trials for parkinsons and his office is on the leading edge of research in canada 5 widest choice of home entertainment in the world visit our showroom at 600 bowes rd unit 23 concord ask about the fullview system the one that dishes up everyth professional service for fe771 satellite t v since 1 984 mrm 0 mumsatiu7e systems 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know us metro lie number- i b3s07 jo 905 64248 is spring conference for patients and families last years conference the first of its kind attracted more than 400 people april is parkinsons awareness month and on thursday april 27 anyone interested in learning more about the disease and the support services available is invit ed to attend an open house at the beautiful heintzman house in thornhill an afternoon program from 1 to 6 pm will include demonstra tions of tai chi yoga and physio therapy exercises as well as dis plays from organizations such as york region home care union villa and mobility bus services at 730 pm master of ceremonies jeremy brown of cfrb will intro duce the evenings entertainment which will include vocalist donna waterworth the big band sounds of not affiliated and the uxbridge youth choir who performed in torontos sellout production of joseph and the amazing techni color dreamcoat there will also be a spell for pun beat parkinsons contest featuring teams of celebrities admission to the open house is free for more information on this event or to find out more about services and volunteer opportuni ties call the local parkinsons sup port group at 2945069 crupac pg ggggmgt1wg kto asphalt paving and acrylic sealing applied manually for durability oil gas resistant take advantage ofoureariyseason special single coat ofweway sealing for 9ssquare foot with this ad orrenptpbesuayaistw pothole crack a concrete repairs interlocking brick tel 416 2984226 fax 416 2982433