The Mystery Named Parkinson's

Last week in neurochemistry we talked about Parkinson’s disease.  This is a disease that has gained much popular attention in our culture due to celebrities and other famous individuals becoming diagnosed with this terrible disease.  With as well known as this disease is, I thought that there would be well known mechanisms and pathways to how this disease manifests and can be treated.  Normally, when a disease is this well known it is usually incredibly well funded—translating into research and a subsequent wealth of knowledge.  Surprisingly though, researchers do not know very much about Parkinson’s.  If you have been following along with our neurochemistry blogs you will have heard about how many of the neurological diseases that plague humanity boil down to oxidative stress, misfolding or tangling of proteins, and over activation by an excess of neurotransmitters.  Many of those same factors come into play here and in Parkinson’s case the proteins of note include a-synuclein and parkin.  Parkin is special in the fact that it is used as a cleaning crew for the cell.
In talking about this disease during a class discussion we came to a very interesting and difficult discussion.  Throughout the semester we have examined many diseases where the physical capabilities of individuals are diminished, yet their mental faculties remain.  We have also seen the exact opposite.  An interesting question to ask yourself is which of these scenarios you would rather have.
When the death of Robin Williams occurred late this last summer, and when later details of his recent diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease and with depression I was given much to think about.  When diagnosed with a terrible disease where you will slowly lose function is it an acceptable decision for an individual to end their life before their disease progresses? Imagine yourself on the deathbed or imagine watching a loved one slowly suffer themselves to death over the course of ten years. This shouldn’t be an easy question for you to answer, if it is I would ask you to think again about it.