Research performed on human brains, has resulted in development of anti-Parkinson’s drug called levodopa which has had a fundamental effect on the controlling of Parkinson’s disease. [Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms]
The only way to begin to fully understand this crippling disease is to look at healthy brains and also those with the condition.
Currently one thousand people a year donate their brain for medical research and the Parkinson’s disease Society are trying to encourage many more to register. Several high profile individuals have signed up including the actress Jane Asher and a BBC news reporter, Jeremy Paxman.
Over one in every five hundred families is affected by Parkinson’s disease every year and that is just in the United Kingdom alone.
Famously Michael J Fox and boxer Muhammad Ali are sufferers; it is a neurological disorder affecting walking, talking and other motor functions. It progressively worsens and causes much pain.
Although donating organs is becoming increasingly an automatic gesture for a lot of people, there is still a stigma attached to donating one’s brain.
A survey carried out by the charity showed that only seven percent of over two thousand adults felt comfortable about leaving their brain to be used for scientific purposes. For heart and kidney donation the figure was over sixty percent.
These figures were despite the fact that a third when asked new someone who had been affected by the disease. It would seem that public awareness could be key in this area; if citizens knew what could be achieved by this research opinion could slowly change.