Seaweed: The Cure for Parkinson’s Disease
University of New Brunswick (Saint John) researchers have discovered common species of kelp that could hold the key to a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
Alaria esculenta or winged kelp is an edible seaweed commonly found in the north Atlantic Ocean and is commonly dried and sold throughout Greenland, Ireland and is present on a large scale on the east coast of Canada in New Brunswick's Bay of Fundy. Although, often dried and eaten as a snack, the ribbon like seaweed that may grow up to 2 meters long has some qualities that may be the ticket to a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s disease is a long-term degenerative disorder in the central nervous system that affects the motor system primarily. Parkinson’s disease is linked to the misfolding of the protein α-synuclein. At different concentrations, an aqueous extract from the edible winged kelp (Alaria esculenta), was shown to lower and to raise the melting point of α-synuclein. Researchers have found that an extract from the winged kelp Alaria esculenta can prevent this conversion and, therefore, could be a breakthrough in avoiding the onset of the disease or slowing its progression.Thus, slowing the over all progress of Parkinson’s disease in the patient .
“The north Atlantic Ocean is a largely unexplored resource in terms of organisms adapted to live in cold and variable environments, these seaweeds survive at low tide -25 °C in the winter and 25 °C in the summer. These are situations known to challenge protein folding. Therefore, ideal for the discovery of molecules that prevent protein misfolding.”
-Dr. Chopin
Dr. Thierry Chopin is a marine biology professor at the Saint John campus of the University of New Brunswick. He’s also one of the lead researchers working with this project and growing this particular type of seaweed on ropes in the Bay of Fundy to allow for a pure culture to work with for the future studies and testing.
“It will be “quite a few years” before this is commercially available but it’s a beginning”
-Dr. Chopin says.
More than 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson’s disease. Medication costs for an individual person with Parkinson’s disease averages to approximately $2,500 each year, and therapeutic surgery can cost up to $100,000 dollars per patient. As many as one million Americans live with Parkinson’s disease, which is more than the combined number of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and Lou Gehrig’s disease. This could be a stepping stone for a much needed cure straight from the maritimes and the waters of New Brunswick’s Bay of Fundy.
