Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s treatment
The Parkinson's disease is a condition that greatly affects the quality of life of people, having to live with constant tremors do not even let them sleep. This is why we have tried to generate a number of therapies, achieving some benefits in other patients are not obtained or decrease over time, but recently more than 20 years created a procedure which has produced great results and we show below in here , the deep brain stimulation.
Deep brain stimulation is a technique that involves implanting electrodes in the brain. Through a surgical procedure is implanted battery-operated device called a neurostimulator, which sends electrical stimulation to areas of the brain that control movement, blocking the abnormal signals that occur in Parkinson's. The electrode is inserted into the brain, while the neurostimulator is implanted in the chest.
A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that Parkinson's patients who had undergone deep brain stimulation had improved significantly more than those who received best medical treatment. Patients also felt the difference, reporting a better quality of life.
The procedure, although effective, is not without risks. According to Dr. Frances M. Weaver, Edward Hines Jr. Hospital, Chicago, 40% of patients undergoing deep brain stimulation experienced at least one adverse event:
"Most were infections at the site of the electrodes or the battery," said Weaver. "And almost everyone had to remove and replace the device at a later time, once the infection resolved."
Previous studies showed that after surgery, intracranial hemorrhage can occur and present a difficulty in speaking or speaking in a voice becoming soft. Other patients do not benefit, which may be because the stimulator is not set correctly. If the procedure does not work, the electrodes can be switched off; the battery can be removed or put into the chest cavity.
Deep brain stimulation works only if the patients have responded to prescription drugs for Parkinson's, such as L-dopa, although these drugs usually stop working over time and can cause movement problems themselves. No one knows why the stimulus works, but scientists suspect that normalizes the aberrant activity in the globus pallidus and subthalamic nucleus, the brain areas that are the main targets of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease.
Specialists in deep brain stimulation say the success of this treatment are based on proper patient selection. This requires a medical team; they work with neurologists neurosurgeons to precisely diagnose Parkinson's disease and rule out cognitive impairment in patients. People over 70 years have been the most benefit from this procedure but is associated with an increased risk of surgical complications after that age, so we must assess the patient's general condition.
Deep brain stimulation is a good alternative for treating Parkinson's, where it may need further medical treatment and adjust to life living with this disease.
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