Final hope for desperate patients

The clinical value of foetal-cell implantation in the treatment of Parkinson's disease is still unknown, but this has not stopped the rich and desperate from seeking treatment wherever in the world they can, particularly in countries where there are few ethical controls.

Parkinson's is a neurological disorder which disrupts voluntary physical movement, but leaves the mind untouched. Each year there are15,000 new cases in Britain, with the elderly most usually affected.

The symptoms may start with tremor or shaking in one hand, arm or leg. As the disease progresses, it affects both sides of the body, causing stiffness and weakness all over; a shuffling walk that may break into uncontrollable, tiny, running steps; constant trembling of the hands and head shaking, and a rigid, stooped posture. In some patients, speech becomes hesitant. Eventually, all physical actions become difficult.The cause is premature death of nerve cells in the brain, which produce a chemical known as dopamine. Treatment with a synthetic form of this chemical, levadopa, relieves symptoms for a time but increasingly large doses are needed.

The pressure for an alternative treatment has been intense. It was hoped that transplanting one of the patient's own adrenal glands into the brain so that it would produce dopamine might work. Between 1982 and 1989, 30 patients received such transplants but results were disappointing.

In 1988, Edward Hitchcock, Professor of Neurosurgery at Birmingham University, pioneered the use of spontaneously aborted foetal cells, implanting them into the brains of patients in the hope that they would produce dopamine. Some clinical improvement was reported. However, the Parkinson's Disease Society says that full assessment of this technique is 5 to 10 years away.