A routine autopsy performed on a patient who died of a heart attack while participating in an experimental Parkinson's drug trial revealed that he had grown new brain tissue.

More than 120,000 people in the UK have the degenerative brain disease which affects movement, and although treatments are available, no cure has as yet been found.

The new findings emerged after a routine post-mortem examination of a Parkinson's disease sufferer who had died from a heart attack last year.

Nerve Fibers Grew Back

The 62-year-old man was one of five patients in a pilot study at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol. They had an experimental drug -- glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) -- pumped into the damaged part of the brain.

Patients reported dramatic improvements in their mobility.

When Professor Seth Love, from the University of Bristol, examined the brain of the 62-year-old patient who had been using GDNF, he discovered that the dopamine-containing nerve fibers had sprouted back.