Medicine: Brain Defender

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Among the greatest terrors of old age is the fear of becoming physically crippled. About 600,000 Americans are afflicted with Parkinson's disease, which is marked by a progressive dying off of the brain cells that control voluntary movement. Victims suffer from the shakes, muscle stiffness and poor balance; eventually, many become totally disabled. Standard treatment for Parkinson's has relied on giving patients levodopa. But the drug, which supplies remaining brain cells with a vital chemical, simply tempers the disease's symptoms without affecting its progress. Even worse, the medication soon becomes ineffective. For that reason, doctors wait as long as possible after the disease is diagnosed before prescribing levodopa.

Now, though, a new drug called deprenyl may represent a turning point in therapy for Parkinson's. Deprenyl's distinction: it actually slows the progress of the illness. In fact, it is the first medication ever to retard a chronic brain disorder. Deprenyl or similar drugs could conceivably lead to advances in the treatment of other neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's.

Researchers reported the conclusive proof of deprenyl's effect on Parkinson's in last week's New England Journal of Medicine. In a study at 28 U.S. and Canadian medical centers involving 800 patients, investigators found that those given deprenyl took significantly more time to reach the point where they needed levodopa than did those not receiving the drug. Based on the results, the researchers project that patients on deprenyl can wait twice as long -- about a year -- before taking levodopa.