New hope for stroke patients.BIRMINGHAM University Birmingham University, at Birmingham, England; founded 1900. It has faculties of arts, science, engineering, medicine and dentistry, commerce and social science, law, and education and continuing studies. scientists are giving new hope to stroke patients with the first large scale study of its kind. They are trialling a drug on stroke victims, which is currently used to treat people with Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. . Researchers are investigating if the drug L-dopa l-dopa (ĕl-dō`pə), drug used to alleviate some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, particularly trembling, rigidity, and slow movements; the drug is also called levodopa. , alongside physiotherapy physiotherapy: see physical therapy. and occupational therapy, can boost stroke patients' mobility and increase their chances of walking again. Professor Catherine Sackley, from Birmingham University, is working with stroke medical specialists, researchers and clinical trial experts in Leeds Leeds, city (1991 pop. 445,242) and metropolitan district, N central England, on the Aire River. It lies between one of England's leading manufacturing regions on the west and south and an agricultural region on the north and east. , Nottingham, Newcastle and the Grampian area of Scotland on the project. "L-dopa is widely used to treat Parkinson's but the drug could prove to be beneficial in enhancing nerve pathways in the brain that are fundamental to learning movements," said Prof Sackley. If the trial is successful, it would represent a major advance in improving the chance of a recovery for stroke patients. |
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