In Health Watch:Most of the drugs on the market right now to treat Parkinson’s disease target the symptoms.But a new approach would actually slow down the progression of the disease.Wendy Rigby explains.in this lab at the UT Health Science Center, scientists are trying to find a new way to treat a disabling disease: Parkinson’s.Dr. Robert Clark and Dr. Syed imam have published a study in the journal of neuroscience that shows an exciting initial finding.The drug Gleevec, on the market now and used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, may also slow down Parkinson’s.Dr. Imam says, ‘when we do experimental studies, we see that if you use that drug, it’s going to preserve the neurons that are affected during Parkinson’s Disease.’The initial studies in mice showed that Gleevec helped Parkinson’s by clearing up proteins that accumulate and destroy brain cells.Dr. Clark says, ‘I think we have an opportunity to develop a treatment for Parkinson’s Disease that will actually slow down the progression of the disease rather than simply diminish the symptoms.’The experiments here have been going on for three years now.while Gleevec is promising, it doesn’t penetrate the brain tissue as well as researchers would like, but other drugs in the same class may prove effective.Parkinson’s affects a half million Americans, and the incidence is rising.Dr. Imam says, ‘so we might not be able to completely cure the disorder, but at least we can slow it down in terms of its progression.’Use of the drug for Parkinson’s in humans is still years away.