Deep Brain Simulation- way to combat Parkinsons disease

Human mind is a workhouse of ideas, of dreams and of innovations. It is this mind that defines and differentiates us form other living species. The human mind has evolved over the ages and with this evolution there has been evolution of diseases like the “Parkinson disease”.

It is estimated that about 1 million people in the United States suffer from Parkinson's, a movement disorder that makes limbs rigid and produces body tremors. The highly dangerous disease can take away a person's ability to move by causing tremors, stiffness, shuffled walk, muffled speech. Drugs may help keep the symptoms quite for some span of time, but not completely, and not always over the long term.

Deep Brain Simulation (DBS) is a new technology developed to combat the disease. Deep brain stimulation is a relatively new therapy to treat Parkinson’s disease. During the procedure, a battery-operated neurostimulator is surgically implanted into the brain. That stimulator can improve motor symptoms in some Parkinson's patients by blocking the abnormal nerve signals that cause tremors and other symptoms. The procedure is not yet commonplace but is gaining popularity. There are currently 14,000 patients with deep brain stimulation devices implanted.

The Activa Brain Simulation device had been developed by Medtronic Inc`s (MDT). In a study with the help of German and Austrian doctors, it has been concluded that combined with medications it effectively reduces the symptoms and improves the quality of life of the patient.

The patient is awake during the surgery to allow the surgical team to assess the patient’s brain function. While the electrode is being advanced, the patient does not feel any pain because of the brain’s unique nature and its inability to generate pain signals due to an absence of nociceptors or pain receptors. A local anesthetic is administered when the surgeon makes the opening in the skull.

Conducted between 2001 and 2004 at 10 academic centers in Germany and Austria, the study included a total of 156 patients under the age of 75 years with advanced Parkinson's disease and severe motor symptoms.

According to the findings of the study the patients who received this treatment had a better emotional well being, increased mobility and in general a better quality of life than those being operated upon conventional medicines. They had a 25% improvement in quality of life and 41% improvement in motor symptoms. Of the 13 patients who reported severe adverse side effects, 10 received neurostimulation and three received only medication. Of the four deaths, three were in the neurostimulation group and one in the medication-only group.

"For patients and their families, this is a landmark study because it focuses on what is really important to them: quality of life. And it shows, very clearly, that DBS improves quality of life," said Dr. Jaimie Henderson, director of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery at Stanford University Medical Center.

Clearly being cited as one of the most important breakthroughs in the medical and surgical world DBS techniques would surely have an impact on the affected people, an impact surely for the betterment of the society.