Parkinson’s patients are having pig embryo cells implanted into their brains as a ‘last resort’ treatment.
Twelve patients with advanced Parkinson’s, whose disabilities cannot be controlled any longer by drugs such as levodopa, were given the transplants in a trial overseen by the Boston Medical Center in the USA.
One year after the transplants, the patients have been recording an average 19 per cent improvement on a Parkinson’s rating.
Rumours, however, that they also enjoy rolling in straw and have replaced dinner plates with a trough have been discounted (Neurology, 2000; 54: 1042-50).