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Please send me a copy of the article. Thank you, [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda J Herman" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 3:46 AM Subject: Re: neuropsychological effects of DBS > Lanier, You wrote: > 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. > Brain, Vol. 123, No. 10, 2091-2108, October 2000 > Neuropsychological consequences of chronic bilateral stimulation of > the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's disease > Jean A. Saint-Cyr1,2,3, Lisa L. Trépanier1,4, > Rajeev Kumar5, Andres M. Lozano2 and A. E. Lang1 > >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. > --------------------------------------------- > > This article reported that additionally "Individual younger patients may > also be at risk for cognitive and behavioural changes" > > I also think it would be helpful to hear professional reactions to this > article, since it reports on possible negative side effects of bilateral > STN that I don't think have been widely discussed before. > I realize it's not enough just to go by an abstract or short summary of > the conclusion, but parts of the article, especially discussion on the > physiology of the procedure is beyond my understanding. I've downloaded a > copy of the full article (about 30 pages), and will be glad to forward > it. > > I don't mean to frighten anyone who may be considering this procedure, as > I wrote earlier this is only one study and involved a small sample group. > However, the authors are highly respected researchers in this field, and > I think in order to be able to make informed decisions, we need all the > presently available facts. > > Linda >