The most recognizable signs of Parkinson’s disease — the hand tremors, the stony face, the loss of balance — are the result of the loss of a specific kind of nerve cell in a specific region of the brain. These neurons are responsible for producing the brain messenger-molecule dopamine and delivering it in a precisely controlled way to a region of the brain involved in motion control. As we age, all of us gradually lose these cells, and some people lose them more quickly because of genetics or lifestyle and environmental factors. When our reserve of these cells falls below a critical threshold, the remaining cells can no longer properly guide the motion center. Our fine control of our motion degrades, and our hands begin to tremble. The symptoms worsen over time as more neurons are lost, and the drugs used to control symptoms become less and less effective and harder and harder to manage.

Scientists have worked for decades on RepleniSENS therapies for people suffering with Parkinson’s, and it’s been a learning process: some patients in these trials have benefitted hardly at all, but others have had remarkable recoveries that free them from drugs for years. They are now working on new trials, using the powerful new biotechnology of cellular reprogramming  create custom cells of just the right kind, and using new surgical techniques to deliver them to just the right place. Support RepleniSENS so we’ll all move freely again!