The role of treatment of Parkinson’s disease is still a matter of debate. There are no medications or surgeries to cure the disease. All the treatment modalities employed now are intended to control the symptoms of the disease or to slow the worsening of the disease.
Medications have long been in use for Parkinson’s disease. Use of different medications has resulted in the betterment of the life of the patient with the disease. All the symptoms of the Parkinson’s disease like tremors, bradykinesia, and rigidity are controlled to some extent for some period of time by the medications available.
But after a period of time, medications become ineffective to control the progression of the disease. The symptoms worsen. Then other modalities of treatment are considered. Surgical treatment is one option. A new mode of treatment which has come up for the treatment is deep brain stimulation.
What is deep brain stimulation?
Deep brain stimulation is a surgical procedure for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. It involves placing a small electrode within the brain surgically. The area of the brain for the electrode insertion is chosen carefully. The area in the brain with the maximum amount of active cells of Parkinson’s disease is chosen for the procedure. The electrode is connected to a pulse generator and gives intermittent electric stimulus to the cells. The stimulus would control the excessive brain activity in the area and in effect control the symptoms of the disease.
Is the procedure helpful?
Deep brain stimulation is an advanced procedure and is commonly seen to control the symptoms of the disease. The use of the oral medication in the patients is reduced after the surgery. It also reduces the dyskinesias which are often associated with levodopa use. In several patients of Parkinson’s disease, it is seen that the as the disease progresses, patients experience a fluctuation of the symptoms. With the progression of the disease, the patient experience a time when the amount of the medication becomes inadequate to control the symptoms. When deep brain stimulation is done, the patient experiences a medication like state even when off medication.
Are there risks involved with the surgery?
As any surgery, there are risks involved with deep brain stimulation as well. Bleeding may occur in some patients and might turn fatal. In some patients, stroke also occurred post operatively. Infection also may occur in some patients, but with advanced modern medicine, it is easily controlled.
The outcome of the procedure depends on the patient’s condition at the time of the surgery. The presentation of the Parkinson’s disease itself varies in every individual patient; hence the effect of the treatment also may be different for different patients.