KEY POINTS:
Drugs that could slow or even halt the development of Parkinson's disease could lead to the biggest breakthrough in treatment of the condition for 30 years, scientists say.
If tests on laboratory mice by a team of United States researchers have the same effect on humans, the drugs could provide sufferers' best chance yet of a normal life.
Parkinson's disease is a debilitating illness which causes its sufferers to ultimately lose the ability to walk and talk. Occurring chiefly in over-60s, it is triggered when dopamine neurons in the brain start to die, causing movement to become more difficult and unco-ordinated.
Although treatments are available to reduce the symptoms, they become less effective over time and nothing canprevent the disease from progressing.
But the new research holds out the prospect not only of slowing Parkinson's but of stopping the symptoms ever appearing, the scientists at Northwestern University in Chicago believe.
Study leader Professor James Surmeier, who has been researching Parkinson's for 20 years, said he hoped the drug could be used as a prevention as well as a cure.
"Our hope is that if you began taking it early enough, you won't get Parkinson's disease, even if you were at risk. It would be like taking a baby aspirin every day to protect your heart."
The team's key discovery was that drugs already used to treat high blood pressure, angina and stroke could rejuvenate ageing dopamine neurons.
Professor Surmeier, whose findings are published in the online version of the journal Nature, discovered that young and old dopamine neurons operate in different ways.
While young cells use sodium ions - charged atoms - to generate electrical signals, they switch to calcium ions with advancing age.
When tested, mice engineered to have a progressive Parkinson's-like disease resisted becoming ill after being treated with the drug, Isradipine, a"calcium blocker" usually given to people with high blood pressure.
After a short "silent" interval the cells reverted to using sodium ions and became calmer.
The scientists are now planning to launch a clinical patient trial.
Dr Kieran Breen, director of research and development at the Parkinson's Disease Society, welcomed the findings but noted the results were determined from a very early stage pre-clinical trial using only a model of Parkinson's and that hailing Isradipine as appropriate treatment might be premature.
He added: "We can also not predict whether this drug will be used as a preventative or protective measure ... A significant amount of further research will be required before any definite conclusions can be drawn."
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