LONDON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have discovered that a diabetes drug may have disease-modifying potential to treat Parkinson's disease, according to a study released Friday by the University College London (UCL).
In this UCL-led study, the researchers followed 60 people with Parkinson's disease as they used either a once-weekly injection of exenatide, which has been used since 2005 to treat Type 2 diabetes, for 48 weeks, or a placebo, in addition to their regular medications.
They found that people who used exenatide had better motor function at 48 weeks when they came off the treatment, which persisted after the 12-week follow-up. Those who had injected the placebo showed a decline in their motor scores at both the 48-week and 60-week tests.
"This is a very promising finding, as the drug holds potential to affect the course of the disease itself, and not merely the symptoms," said the study's senior author Prof. Tom Foltynie at UCL.
But the study did not determine conclusively whether the drug was modifying the disease itself, so the next stage in the research will investigate that more fully, according to the team.
Parkinson's disease affects one in 500 people and is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide. The condition results in muscle stiffness, slowness of movement, tremors, sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue and an impaired quality of life.
The study has been published in the journal The Lancet.
