Subject: MS research in Canada

From: Wayne Anderson <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 12:33:05 +0000

Here is a story from Canadian Press, about research in
Kingston, Ontario.   It's described as a breakthrough, but
note the last sentence -- that it could take more than a
decade to come up with an effective drug.
                --Wayne Anderson

^AM-HEALTH-MS-Breakthrough@
code:4
^Espy AP, Reuts@

^Breakthrough in MS, Alzheimer's treatment@
   KINGSTON, Ont. (CP) _ A breakthrough made by two Queen's
University medical researchers may help scientists conquer
degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Multiple Sclerosis.
   Clinical neurologist Dr. Rick Riopelle and biochemist Greg Ross
have been able to demonstrate in a laboratory how drugs can stop
neuro-degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis,
Parkinson's disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
   The researchers, working at the Apps Medical Research Centre in
Kingston General Hospital, have discovered the conditions which block
a self-destructive process in cells.
   Results of the two-year study were published Friday in Science
magazine.
   ``We're very excited,'' said Ross. ``It really gives us a whole new
view of approaches we may take to developing drugs that could be
useful in treating these disorders.''
   The breakthrough has personal meaning for Ross. His 70-year-old
grandmother died from the neuro-degenerative disorder Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis, sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease.
   ``It's a devastating disorder,'' Ross said.
   The researchers examined two protein molecules, one a receptor and
the other a signal for cells to destroy themselves. They were able to
develop a drug that blocked the receptor so that the self-destruct
message didn't get through.
   The process is necessary, said Ross, so that cells in the brain can
be eliminated when they make wrong connections.
   ``Cells have to have the ability to kill themselves,'' said Ross,
``and during development in people under the age of two years old, the
ability...is an absolute requirement.
   ``But the problem is that the cell may inappropriately use these
same mechanisms in the mature nervous system, where you don't want
these cells to die.''
   Ross said the discovery won't produce immediate results for
sufferers because the drug used by researchers can't be used for
treatment because it's dissolved by the body too quickly.
   But the discovery will be key in determining the kind of drug
that could stop such degenerative diseases, Ross said.
   That could take more than a decade, he added.

   CP 2344ES 06-12-96