<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" A large clinical trial has found that a drug currently used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson&amp;#039;s disease may actually slow down the progression of the disease. Parkinson&amp;#039;s is a progressive neurological condition that affects around one in 500 people in the UK. Scientists at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have led an 18-month study involving 1,176 patients with very early Parkinson&amp;#039;s disease. Some patients were given a daily dose of rasagiline for 72 weeks, while others were given a placebo (dummy treatment) for the first 36 weeks, followed by rasagiline for the remaining 36 weeks. Publishing their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers reveal that patients who started off on rasagiline had benefits after 18 months which those who started treatment late did not. The findings indicate that the drug helps to slow disease progression, according to Dr Warren Olanow, a professor in Mount Sinai&amp;#039;s department of neurology. &amp;#039;If this can be confirmed, this would be the first drug determined to have a disease-modifying effect in Parkinson&amp;#039;s disease, and that is exciting news for the Parkinson&amp;#039;s disease community,&amp;#039; he said. A recent study by the Medical College of Georgia found that people with Parkinson&amp;#039;s disease may benefit from playing a Nintendo Wii, which could help to bring about improvements in function and wellbeing. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a18635/drug-may-slow-progression-of-parkinsons-disease/>