DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION BRING MORE SURVIVAL TO PARKINSON PATIENTS

Prof Dr,DRAM,HIV /AIDS,HEPATITIS ,SEX DISEASES & WEAKNESS expert,New Delhi,India, +917838059592

According to a study, a treatment called deep brain stimulation (DBS) is linked to longer survival for Parkinson’s patients. Researchers at the Edward Hines, Jr VA Hospital in Illinois found that patients who received stimulation via an implanted device had a modest survival advantage compared with those treated with medication only. A previous study done in France suggested that deep brain stimulation can ups motor functions by 70% for patients.

    Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder. It affects neurons in the brain that produce dopamine. Its cause is currently unknown, and so far, there is no cure. Parkinson’s itself is not fatal, but complications related to the disease often lead to death.Common symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include tremors, slowness of movement, limb rigidity, and walking and balance problems. People with Parkinson’s disease have a shorter life expectancy than those without the disease. Previous studies have shown that DBS can improve motor function in people with Parkinson’s disease. The treatment involves electrodes surgically inserted into specific areas of the brain.

An impulse generator battery — similar to what is used in pacemakers — is also implanted, under the collarbone or in the abdomen. The battery creates electrical impulses that the electrodes deliver to the brain tissue.There is an immediate effect on patients who have DBS on their motor function — the dyskinesia [involuntary muscle movements] is either gone or greatly reduced. The patient can move around and do things they hadn’t been able to.”

 The researchers found that patients treated with deep brain stimulation survived an average of 6.3 years after the surgery, versus 5.7 years for the non-DBS patients after the date they might have gotten surgery based on their match to a surgery patient — a difference of eight months.Patients with the implanted surgical device were more likely to have been monitored closely, so other chronic conditions may have been diagnosed and treated earlier. The study group was also mostly male — because the veteran population is majority male — meaning that the results cannot necessarily be generalised to women with Parkinson’s disease.

         While medication can manage symptoms of the disease, it has not been shown to improve survival for those with Parkinson’s.