Stimulating Parkinson's Patients' Brains

Ivanhoe Newswire
Thursday, August 31, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Deep brain stimulation may be a good option for some Parkinson's disease patients.

According to European researchers who tested DBS in 156 patients with advanced Parkinson's, neurostimulation by means of an implantable device resulted in significant improvements in motor functioning and in overall quality of life.

The neurostimulation patients, who also received Parkinson's medications, were compared to similar patients who received medical management alone. People in the neurostimulation group suffered fewer adverse events overall when compared to the medical management group, but they did have more serious adverse events related to the surgery. One patient died from an intracerebral hemorrhage.

The authors report the improvements seen with neurostimulation -- particularly the improvements in general well being -- suggest the technique has much to offer people with advanced Parkinson's disease, who often suffer from a poor quality of life due to their symptoms. The authors warn, however, surgical risks must be taken into account when choosing the technique.

"In carefully selected patients, neurostimulation of the subthalamic nucleus is a powerful treatment that alleviates the burden of advanced Parkinson's disease," they write. "The prospect of an improved quality of life in patients treated with neurostimulation has to be weighed against the risk of complications related to surgery."

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SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2006;355:896-900