Parkinson's is an incurable, degenerative disease of the central nervous system that causes uncontrollable shaking, along with impaired speech and movement.(File Photo)

    BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The first attempt at gene therapy against Parkinson's disease has yielded promising results without causing side effects in an early study of a dozen patients, according to media reports Friday.

    The pilot study was conducted among 11 men and one woman in New York.

    The treatment entails taking a gene and tucking it inside a disabled cold virus, which is then injected into a key area of the brain. The harmless virus "infects" the local cells and thus stealthily delivers the corrective piece of genetic code.

    In the gene therapy trial, Dr. Michael Kaplitt of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and colleagues found it had no ill effects and appeared to reduce the symptoms in the 12 volunteers, and the benefits lasted for four years in some.

    But researchers cautioned it's too soon to draw conclusions about how well it works and said the approach merits further studies.

    "We still have quite a bit more testing to do," said Dr. Kaplitt. Still, "the initial results are extremely encouraging."

    Parkinson's is an incurable, degenerative disease of the central nervous system that causes uncontrollable shaking, along with impaired speech and movement. In approximately one third of cases it also results in dementia. The disease affects at least one percent of people over the age of 65.

    Attempts to treat Parkinson's have focused essentially on providing a pharmaceutical substitute for dopamine or on restoring or protecting dopamine-producing cells.

    (Agencies)