Deep brain stimulation improves both physical function and quality of life in Parkinson’s sufferers, according to a study in the Jan. 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

 

Parkinson’s disease is responsible for effecting more than a million people in the United States. It is estimated that 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The condition develops through the death of dopamine-producing brain cells, which is a message-carrying chemical linked to movement. Up to this point, there have been no permanent solutions for defeating it, only treatments and drugs delaying the symptoms.

 

The condition causes impairment of the affected person’s motor skills, speech and several other functions. It is characterized by muscle rigidity and tremor and can often come to render the patient incapable of moving. While the condition usually develops after the age of 65, 15 percent of those diagnosed are under 50.

 

A deep brain stimulator is an implantable device used with Parkinson’s disease patients to help them control their movements better. The neurostimulator, which is similar to a heart pacemaker, delivers electrical stimulation to a specific area of the brain, called the subthalamic nucleus, or STN, effectively blocking the abnormal nerve signals that cause tremors. This side of the brain is responsible for controlling impulsive behavior. Deep brain stimulation was approved in 2002 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Parkinson's, but only a small percentage of patients get it.

 

Now, the new study, which was conducted at seven Veterans Affairs hospitals and six university medical centers, found that patients who had deep brain stimulation felt better than the medical therapy patients, lead author Frances Weaver, director of the Center for Management of Complex Chronic Care at the Hines (Ill.) VA Hospital, said.

 

The study followed 255 patients for six months and found that those on brain stimulation had gained an average of 4.6 hours a day of good symptom control, while patients on drugs had no change. The participants were required to keep diaries documenting their motor and physical functioning throughout the day.

 

“(Brain stimulation) patients had significant improvement in their motor function and quality of life after surgery,” Weaver says.

The bad news is that 40 percent of patients on brain stimulation had severe adverse reactions that included falls, gait disturbances and balance disorders, compared with 11 percent of the drug-therapy patients.

 

“We had one patient who felt so good he went up to repair his roof, fell down and broke both his legs,” Weaver said.

 

About 10 percent of the brain-stimulation patients had infections from the implant surgery, and one died of cerebral bleeding.

 

Weaver was very optimistic about the findings, but added that deep brain stimulation is not a panacea.

 

“It certainly helps a lot of people, but it doesn’t address all of the issues of Parkinson’s disease,” he said.