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Lanier Am making a film on PD which features STN DBS surgery. The experts/surgeons have talked to here in the UK say the STN may not be the best target if tremor is your main problem: the STN is the best target when drugs have stopped giving any mobility or are provoking intolerable dyskinesias. Traditionally, lesioning the thalamus has been the main surgical treatment for tremor (and it was the surgery Michael J Fox had - perhaps a little inadvisedly because his tremor was probably just an early symptom rather than the main feature of his Parkinson's to come). But thalamotomies not done so often now. That said, as part of my research for the film, I saw sub-STN DBS done for multiple sclerosis tremor which was fantastically effective. My advise would be: ask as many questions, read everything you can, and talk to as many people as you can before making up your mind. There isn't a whole lot of consensus even among experts which means you have to do a big trawl for information and then decide for yourself. Jemima > From: plmaddux <[log in to unmask]> > Reply-To: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network > <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 15:01:34 -0500 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: neuropsychological effects of DBS > > DR Fink and/or DR. Romero and/or DR. Cris (sorry I don't have your exact > last name handy) > This article makes DBS sound very risky, especially for PWP's age 69 or > over. I have a tremor that is not helped at all by any of the PD meds, and I > am 65 now, thinking that DBS might be in my future,but I hope not for many > years. I would like your comments on the contents of this posting by Linda > Herman? > > These are just a very small portion of the orginal post. > > Lanier Maddux Chattanooga Tn. > > > Brain, Vol. 123, No. 10, 2091-2108, October 2000 > Neuropsychological consequences of chronic bilateral stimulation of > the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's disease > > The major finding in the present study is that STN DBS puts elderly > patients at risk for cognitive impairment, even in the absence of any > signs of early or incipient dementia. In addition, the clinical motor > improvement may be quite modest in patients older than 69 years. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Why pay for something you could get for free? > NetZero provides FREE Internet Access and Email > http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html