Ileene’s hopes after wonder drug trial
A former detective has told of her role in a medical trial which could revolutionise how Parkinson’s disease is treated.
Ileene Byrne volunteered for the project in the hope of experiencing again what life was before she became ill.
The 55-year-old from South Shields, who worked as a CID officer in Sunderland, had to have a port put into the side of her head to administer the drug – and had to go through the procedure a second time after the first became unusable due to a complication.
After going through the placebo round, Ileene was given an infusion of the GDNF – naturally-occurring protein – which is delivered directly to the brain using four tubes placed into the head, and her symptoms were brought to a standstill by the treatment. She said: “I was adamant I was going to get this new drug.
“I wanted to get back into my high heel shoes.
“When I was given it, I thought‘myGod’.Atthetime I couldn’t walk and I had to crawl across the floor to get to my medicine, and trying to get dressed took hours.
“I couldn’t get my shoes on because of the spasms. But with this, I got out of my wheelchair and into my shoes.”
Since the trial ended, Ileene has not been given any further doses of the drug and is back on her previous medication.
She added: “I saw a glimmer of what my life was like prior to Parkinson’s, but I had a brain infection.”
The results of the multimillion pound study, which featured 41 patients, aimed to look at whether boosting the levels of the protein can regenerate dying brain cells in people with Parkinson’s and even reverse the condition.
Ileene, who is married to fellow retired police officer Sheldon, 59, and has a 16-year-old son, and also worked as a registered nurse, was diagnosed with the disease on Valentine’s Day in 2002.
It came after she had symptoms including a spasm in her left leg and a feeling she was becoming flat-footed.
More about the trial via www.parkinsons.org.uk/ research/clinical-trial-gdnf.