A clinical study by Hong Kong Baptist University has discovered what may prove a breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Researchers found that a traditional Chinese prescription medication, uncaria rhynchophylla, or gouteng, in use for more than three centuries, has proven effective in treating Parkinson's disease without the side effects prevalent in Western medication.

Li Min, an associate professor who led the research at the School of Chinese Medicine at the university, announced the results on Wednesday.

The study shows that the prescription can relieve non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease, such as depression, sleeping disorder, constipation and loss of appetite.

Side effects caused by conventional levodopa treatment, such as nausea, hallucinations, and delusions, can also be eased.

Patients' speaking abilities also showed improvement.

Gouteng is the key to a prescription involving a combination of six major herbs to treat Parkinson's disease.

The formula containing at least ten different herbs was created by one of the three famous doctors in early Qing Dynasty, Zhang Lu, to treat shaking of arms and legs. Professors have found modern pharmacological evidence to support it.

A major active component in gouteng can induce autophagy in neuronal cells, and thus promote the clearance of abnormal protein residing in the neurons, Li said.

The research team has applied the formula for a US patient. But the prescription is only suitable for patients with spleen deficiency, she noted.

Despite the encouraging results, Li indicated that the herbal medicine is not a substitute for Western medicine in treating Parkinson's disease.

Using both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine will be the best treatment, she said.

Li expected to increase the amount of gouteng in the next clinical study. The research team will start a larger-scale clinical study with a grant of HK$600,000 from the Food and Health Bureau.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system and more common in the elderly above the age of 50. Symptoms include shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement in early stages, and cognitive and behavioral problems in later stages.

One of the major difficulties of treating the disease is the increasingly serious side effects caused by long-term medication, including vomiting, delusions, chorea, tics and muscle twitching.

guojiaxue@chinadailyhk.com

China Daily

(HK Edition 07/21/2011 page1)