The Deprenyl Story

John Jacono is an assistant professor of Nursing at Laurentian
University.

Parkinson’s disease, first described in 1817, may affect as many as
two percent of North Americans over the age of 60. As lifespan
increases, more people will experience the disorder, described by Dow as
a personal tragedy and a social blight.

While it is related to advancing age, and is known to be the result of
an early decrease of the neurotransmitter dopamine, Parkinson’s is a
capricious disease. For most cases, its cause is idiopathic or unknown.
What is now known, as a result of this book, is the equally capricious
history of attempts to check the unrelenting progress of its symptoms.
Dow has used his considerable experience as an investigative journalist
to reveal the human nature of a few of the people who—from a mixture
of dedication, egoism, greed, and personal tragedy—managed to overcome
seemingly insurmountable obstacles and bring relief to thousands of
Parkinson’s suffers with Deprenyl, a mono amine oxidase inhibitor.

There will be some who, after reading this book, will argue—rightly,
it would appear—that Deprenyl could and should have been licenced for
use in North America much earlier than it was. They would, however, have
been unable to reach this conclusion without the insight that this book
provides. More importantly, perhaps, this book will give many the hope
that there will always be someone with enough vision to fight for what
they think is right.

It is possible that after many years in limbo Deprenyl will, because of
the unrelenting actions of a few, open the gate to a new generation of
antidegenerative drugs. If this type of investigative journalism spurs
the few to pursue this dream, it will have achieved far more than
telling an interesting story.