look news india
A drug used to treat diabetes that has shown efficacy in treating Parkinson's appears to slow the progression of Parkinson's, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. In fact, Parkinson's is a nervous system disorder that affects millions of people around the world and a cure has not yet been found. This disease has symptoms like tremors, slowness in walking, thinning of the tongue and difficulty in maintaining body balance, which become increasingly chronic with time.
Researchers are interested in a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists. This drug mimics gut hormones and is commonly used in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. Also, this medicine has the ability to protect neurons. However, so far the amount of benefit that patients have received from its use is limited.
A study was conducted on 156 patients admitted to various hospitals in France.
During this study, 156 early-stage Parkinson's patients were recruited in various hospitals in France. They were then given the drug lixisenatide, which is sold under the brand names Adalixin or Lixumia, or they were randomized to a Sanofi placebo. After follow-up of all the patients for one year, it was revealed that this medicine taken in the form of injection did not improve the symptoms of the patients and their condition did not get worse than before. Whereas those who were given placebo had symptoms that were worse than before.
