According to research, a medication similar to those used in skinny jabs may help reduce the growth of Parkinson’s disease symptoms.
According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, over 10 million people worldwide suffer from Parkinson’s disease, a condition in which the brain gradually loses nerve cells, resulting in problems with mobility, balance, and memory, among other things.
In recent years, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (or GLP-1R agonists) have sparked interest, with one such drug, exenatide, a type 2 diabetes medication, discovered to help reduce the course of motor symptoms in a small number of individuals.
Pow researchers believe another such treatment, lixisenatide, a type 2 diabetes prescription, appears to perform the same thing, lending credence to the theory that Parkinson’s disease is linked to insulin resistance in the brain.
The study’s primary investigator, Prof Wassilios Meissner of the University Hospital of Bordeaux, described the findings as motivating.
“We have to stay careful about all the understanding and about applicability at the present stage, but it is really a very, very clear and strong signal we have never seen except in the exenatide trial,” he stated.
Researchers divided 156 people with recently diagnosed Parkinson’s disease into two equal-sized groups
French researchers described in the New England Journal of Medicine that they divided 156 people with recently diagnosed Parkinson’s disease into two equal-sized groups.
Each group received their usual Parkinson’s medications, but one also received a daily injection of lixisenatide, while the other received a placebo.
Individuals were tested for motor symptoms and assigned a disease severity score before, during, and after the trial.
The results demonstrate that after 12 months, those given lixisenatide exhibited almost no advancement of motor issues, whereas those given the placebo showed deteriorating symptoms, losing roughly three points on the 132-point evaluation scale – a small but clinically significant difference.
According to the researchers, lixisenatide not only reduces symptoms but also protects the brain from neuronal death. However, there were some side effects: 13% of those who took lixisenatide reported vomiting, and around half reported feeling queasy.
According to the researchers, more efforts and research are needed to determine whether lixisenatide slows the progression of the disease, whether the benefits last longer or even improve as the medication is taken for longer periods, what the optimal dosage is, and whether the medication would be beneficial to patients with Parkinson’s disease at other stages.