Tremors, rigidity, loss of balance. More than one million Americans suffer from Parkinson's disease.

There are drugs to treat some of the symptoms during the disease's early stages of development, but once it progresses, little can be done.

John Goudreau, an associate professor in the departments of neurology and pharmacology and toxicology, is conducting a study that might help slow the progression of the disease.

"If you can find patients early, and keep them in the early stages of development, that's as close to a cure as we can get," he said.

The study will look at the effect creatine has on the disease.

"I don't want people to go out and start taking creatine for their Parkinson's disease," Goudreau said. "It does not help the symptoms, but it slows down the progression over the long run."

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the research project will be the first comprehensive government study done on Parkinson's disease. Two-thousand patients will be recruited from 51 different sites across the country. Michigan has been selected for two sites, one at MSU and one at University of Michigan.

Goudreau recruited his first patient last week and will continue recruitment for the next two years.

Half the patients involved with the study will receive a placebo drug, while the other half will receive creatine. Goudreau will examine the effects of the drugs over the course of the next five to seven years.

MSU has received $2 million in funding for the project.