A Brief History of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research was started about 9 years after he was diagnosed of this condition. So far Michael J. Fox has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to this cause since the establishment of MJFF.

Michael J. Fox was first diagnosed of this condition when he noticed a twitch in one of his fingers back in 1991. He first disclosed this news in 1998. At this time, he cut back on his work load.

He also founded an organization that would dedicate itself to research which would hopefully lead to improve treatments. That is what has grown into what the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research is today.

In 2008, Michael J. Fox Foundation donated $2.4 million to new developments in research of a cure. Nine research teams will use this money to help develop promising new cures and/or treatments of this condition.

One of the main goals of the Michael J. Fox Foundation right now is to help launch clinical trials. These will effectively introduce new medications once they are tested safe and/or effective. If this new targeted treatment plan works it could change the lives of millions of people.

This new effort of research being funded is known as the Target Validation project. This is a multi-faceted initiative set in place for the purpose of finding new medications as mentioned earlier. However, it also is a program intended to accomplish much more.

The Target Validation initiative is very comprehensive. It is designed for three main reasons, which are to study the effects of dopamine replacement therapy, observe treatments designed to alleviate PD symptoms, and determine potential to slow or stop progression of Parkinson’s disease.

The necessity of what MJFF has done over the past decade is seen upon analyzing of all aspects of PD. This is necessary, since it is such a complex disease of which most people know do not know much about.

In fact, most people do not even learn about it until it affects them or someone they know. This is probably true in any case, but the sooner one learns about this condition the sooner it can be treated.

Early treatment in some cases could possibly delay progression of the most severe symptoms. No guarantee can be made, however. The fact is this condition is quite unpredictable.

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