This makes sense to me, doesn't it seem quite similar to the DBS (deep brain
stulator) - the wire planted in the brain which emits low voltage electrical
impulses blocking some of the 'bad' signals which cause tremor, ridigity,
slowness, etc.?  Sounds less invasive but the drawback is that the patient
must keep going back to get a dose of electric.  This is a nice option to
have.
Jackie
CG for Bob, diag 42, currently 49
PS Bob had DBS surgery yesterday.




> Something I haven't heard of before from the pduk List.
>                    Carole
>
> --- Martin Purchase <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > The following article appeared in Scotland on Sunday
> > 9-1-00
> >
> > Electric shock treatment helps Parkinson's sufferers to
> > walk
> >
> >
> > By Tom Peterkin
> >
> > SCIENTISTS have developed a revolutionary treatment for
> > Parkinson's disease
> > using magnetic energy to stimulate the brain.
> >
> > Professor Trevor Stone of Glasgow University and his
> > Hungarian colleague Dr
> > Judit Mally say disabled sufferers have regained the
> > ability to walk after
> > receiving the pioneering treatment.
> >
> > Nearly 300 patients have been recipients of the new
> > technique, which uses a
> > small magnetic coil to pass high-speed pulses of
> > electrical power into the
> > brain.
> >
> > A study carried out by Stone and Mally for the Journal of
> > Neuroscience
> > Research revealed there was a marked improvement in the
> > condition for up to
> > six months after a week's treatment.
> >
> > More than 120,000 people in the UK have the disease and
> > the figure is
> > rising. More people are diagnosed over the age of 60, but
> > it is estimated
> > that one in 20 are under 40 when diagnosed. The boxer
> > Muhammad Ali is
> > probably the most high profile sufferer.
> >
> > It is a common progressive neurological disorder that
> > results from a
> > degeneration of nerve cells in a region of the brain that
> > controls
> > movement. The symptoms of the debilitating illness
> > include slow movement,
> > the inability to move, rigid limbs, a shuffling gait and
> > a stooped
> > posture.
> >
> > Sufferers often also show reduced facial expression and
> > can cause
> > personality changes, dementia and speech impairments.
> >
> > Mally, of the Elizabeth Hospital in Sopron, Hungary,
> > said: "Treatment only
> > takes one minute twice a day. It is totally painless and
> > it lasts for six
> > months. After six months we can repeat the treatment.
> >
> >
> >
> > "We have observed an excellent functional improvement in
> > patients. For
> > example, a patient, who could not stand up from a chair
> > was able to get up
> > after treatment."
> >
> > At the moment the new technique is only available in
> > Hungary, but Stone is
> > keen to attract funding to use his expertise to bring the
> > treatment over to
> > Scotland. He said: "The value of this technique is an
> > exciting development,
> > and Dr Mally and I are trying to attract funds to pilot
> > the technique in
> > Scotland."
> >
> > Transcranial magnetic stimulation has shown encouraging
> > results in the
> > treatment of depression and migraine, but until now its
> > potential for
> > treating Parkinson's patients has been neglected.
> >
> > A small magnetic coil is placed close to the head and
> > high speed pulses of
> > power - or tiny electric shocks - are passed into the
> > brain.
> >
> > It is thought that the pulses stimulate the brain cells
> > affected by
> > Parkinson's.
> >
> > Mally explained: "Patients with Parkinson's have an
> > obstruction in the
> > brain, which stops them from starting a movement. The
> > patient thinks he
> > wants to start walking, for example, but the obstruction
> > prevents him from
> > doing so. The performance of the movement is very
> > difficult. Somehow the
> > pulses overcome this obstruction."
> >
> > She added: "We have found that the effectiveness of the
> > treatment depends
> > on the frequency and the intensity of the electromagnetic
> > field and the
> > direction of the treatment is also very important. This
> > is a very new way
> > of treating patients with electricity and it is exciting
> > that it appears to
> > be so successful."
> >
> > Stone added: "It is this inability to move that patients
> > find most
> > distressing, but if we give them just a little treatment
> > then they find
> > they can keep walking.
> >
> > "The magnetic field stimulates fibres in the brain and
> > causes them to start
> > talking to each other, which they cease doing when
> > somebody has
> > Parkinson's."
> >
> > Stone and Mally are hopeful that their method will prove
> > to be more
> > successful and less harmful than existing drug therapies,
> > which lead to
> > unpleasant side effects such as confusion, hallucinations
> > and fluctuations
> > in long-term ability to perform movements.
> >
> > At the moment there is still no known cure for the
> > disease, but drug
> > treatments result in improvements in the condition in the
> > short term.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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