Woman on Parkinsons disease trial tell of success

Therapy involves injecting a virus into the brain which induces production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Photograph: Hugh Macknight/PA Wire

Sheila Roy, a woman on an experimental gene therapy treatment for Parkinsons disease, never imagined three years ago that she would be well enough to write a book.

The 66-year-old from Bedfordshire, England, is to speak today at an international conference hosted by NUI Galway.

She has experienced progressive improvements since she volunteered for the radical treatment in 2011, she said.

It goes in stages, but I took a big step up just two weeks ago, Ms Roy told The Irish Times .

Her neurologist, Prof Roger Barker of the University of Cambridge, who will participate in the presentation, notes she has already been able to reduce her medication by 50 per cent.

I had Parkinsons for 17 years, and was not well at all, when I heard about this treatment, Ms Roy said of her decision to volunteer for trials of ProSavin, a viral gene therapy manufactured by Oxford BioMedica.

It involves injecting a virus into the brain which induces production of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Deficiency of nerve-controlling dopamine causes the neurodegenerative condition, which affects an estimated four million people worldwide.

Ms Roy, who was in her 40s when first diagnosed, was inquiring about deep brain stimulation treatment when she heard about the trials.

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Woman on Parkinsons disease trial tell of success