Medical Break-through
Parkinson’s sufferers have been warned against the negative side effects of a new surgical break-through in America.
A form of ‘brain pacemakers’, which involve electrodes being planted into sufferers’ brains to help reduce tremors, rigidity and flailing limbs, have also caused some serious implications, including one death.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published results of studies involving the surgery, and found that improvements in patients’ abilities to move resulted in them ‘forgetting’ that they had the disease.
As a consequence, around 40% of the patients experienced problems, such as falling and injuring themselves, and some suffered from infections after the surgery.
However, 71% of patients who underwent the surgery showed improvements in movement, and gained an average of five hours’ good quality movement time. Patients were also able to reduce their normal Parkinson’s medication by 23%.
Only 3% of the group experienced worse symptoms, not including those who fell and were injured.
Parkinson’s disease occurs when the brain stops making dopamine, which is a chemical that allows movement in the body. Patients are often reduced to sitting in their homes, as they physically cannot move for hours during the day, and depression is common amongst sufferers.
The study found that only 32% of patients who continued to take oral medication and who did not undergo surgery showed improvements. But only 15 people encountered problems from their medication, in comparison to 49 people who had surgery.
According to the msnbc website, surgery to implant the electrodes and pacemaker costs about $60,000 in America, and medications can cost around $5,000 a year.
Further studies into the new method are now underway.
By Kay Taylor