I am skeptical about anything dealing with radiation. When I was 6 years old 
in 1954 I received X-ray treatments for swollen adenoids. Many children who 
received that treatment developed cancer of the thyroid as adults.. I did 
not get cancer, but I think the treeatment was the cause of my PD.
John 61/15

- Original Message ----- 
From: "john thomas" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 2:35 PM
Subject: Re: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)


>I think we best start looking at the procedures a little more than naively
> listing them on a cause effect basis.
> As the name suggests stereotactic radiation surgery, SRS, is an operation
> designed to destroy tissue thought to be the cause of the symptoms of PD.
> Hence the radiation doses are extremely high.  I.e. Radiotherapy doses at 
> a
> level to destroy tissue, this I can't emphasize enough.
> Its only, dare I say, benefit is that the brain is not directly assaulted 
> by
> the surgeon's knife.
> Therefore this is considered a non invasive technique which on face value
> might appear to someone unable to survive a brain operation as in dbs.
> The after effects are similar to radiotherapy techniques applied to tumor
> treatment and as such would not normally be promoted as an effective
> treatment for Pd. The success rate should always be considered above all
> else when adopting an evaluation of the procedures available.
> John Thomas
> B Aps medical radiation
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nic Marais
> Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 11:29 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)
>
> Hmmm... DBS might be invasive, but at least it can be reversed and does 
> not
> fry a part of your brain...!
>
> Nic 57/15
>
> On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 8:35 AM, mschild <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers a less invasive way to eliminate
>> tremors
>> caused by Parkinson's disease and essential tremor than deep brain
>> stimulation
>> (DBS) and radiofrequency (RF) treatments, and is as effective, according
> to
>> a
>> long-term study presented November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of
>> the
>> American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
>> "The study shows that radiosurgery is an effective and safe method of
>> getting
>> rid of tremors caused by Parkinson's disease and essential tremor, with
>> outcomes that favorably compare to both DBS and RF in tremor relief and
>> risk
>> of complications at seven years after treatment," Rufus Mark, M.D., an
>> author
>> of the study and a radiation oncologist at the Joe Arrington Cancer 
>> Center
>> and
>> Texas Tech University, both in Lubbock, Texas said. "In view of these
> long-
>> term results, this non-invasive procedure should be considered a primary
>> treatment option for tremors that are hard to treat."
>> Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive neurologic disease that 
>> causes
>> tremors, in addition to other symptoms. Essential tremor is the most
> common
>> of
>> all movement disorders and causes uncontrollable shaking of the hands,
>> head,
>> and sometimes other parts of the body.
>> Stereotactic radiation is a specialized type of external beam radiation
>> therapy that pinpoints high doses of radiation directly on a confined 
>> area
>> in a
>> shorter amount of time than traditional radiation treatments. 
>> Stereotactic
>> radiosurgery, or SRS, refers to a single or several stereotactic 
>> radiation
>> treatments of the brain or spine. SRS is delivered by a team involving a
>> radiation oncologist and a neurosurgeon. This radiation treatment is 
>> often
>> called by the brand
>> names of the manufacturers, including Axesse, CyberKnife, Gamma Knife,
>> Novalis, Primatom, Synergy, X-Knife, TomoTherapy and Trilogy.
>> Between 1991 and 2007, 183 patients underwent stereotactic radiosurgery
>> thalamotomy, for hard-to-treat tremors caused by Parkinson's disease and
>> essential tremors. A thalamotomy is a procedure that destroys tissue at a
>> particular spot-the Ventralis Inter-Medius nucleus-on the thalamus of the
>> brain which influences movement.
>> With a median follow-up of seven years, 84 percent of patients had
>> significant
>> or complete resolution of tremors. In patients with Parkinson's disease,
> 83
>> percent had near or complete tremor resolution, while those with 
>> essential
>> tremor had 87 percent of this degree of tremor resolution.
>> Source: American Society for Radiation Oncology
>>
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