New family of compounds 'could slow Parkinson's'

A new study in the US has found that the effects of Parkinson's disease on older adults could be slowed down by a family of compounds.

The results were published this week in the journal Nature Communications and showed that the compounds were found to protect nerve cells in mice by blocking calcium entry.

However, it was noted that there remains still some way to go before they are ready to be tested in people who are affected by Parkinson's.

Claire Bale, research communications manager at Parkinson's UK, stated there is still a lot of work to do to turn these new compounds into drugs that can be tested in people with Parkinson's.

"But they have genuine potential to slow the progression of the condition which is something no current treatments can do," she said.

A recent report published in Nature found why the standard treatment for Parkinson's disease is often effective for only a limited period of time.

It was shown to be to do with dopamine neurons in the striatum.

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