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WNBC, NY Brain 'Pacemaker" Helps Alleviate Symptoms Of Dystonia Disease Makes Patients Stiffen Up So Much They Lose Mobility POSTED: 6:10 p.m. EDT July 21, 2003 NEW YORK -- Electrical devices called deep brain stimulators, essentially a pacemaker for the brain, have been used for some years to ease the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Now, they've just been approved for another degenerative brain disease called dystonia. For Laura Herbert, dystonia has taken away her ability to walk and function properly. "I have a constant tremor and spasm," she said. "It makes my walking really difficult because my toes curl like they're like fists. They sort of ball up and they're really tense." Worse, the right-handed Herbert has lost most of the use of that hand and she actually had to walk backwards, if at all. After exhausting every other alternative, Herbert now finds herself about ready to have brain surgery to try to ease her dystonia symptoms, and prevent what happens to may such patients. The surgery Herbert is about to undergo is actually the implantation of something called deep brain stimulators, which are electrodes connected to a pair of battery-powered devices are placed near the center of her brain. "What electrical stimulation is blocking the abnormal signals that are coming from these structures deep within the brain, and by blocking the abnormal signals, the other structures in the brain can behave more normally," said Dr. Ron Alteman. Remarkably, Herbert is awake during the procedure to ensure the electrodes are in the right place. The static is the electrical activity in Herbert's brain. After careful planning and mapping, long thin electrodes are gently guided into her brain, and after a month later, the long process of tuning the stimulation will begin. After three months, Herbert says she's feeling great. "I was walking in a way that I haven't in years," she said. "And it was just, I mean, I can't explain... It's like having wings." "I'm just so much more carefree and happier and, you know, my world is so much better," she continued. The brain stimulators don't cure dystonia but as Herber said, they can give patients a better quality of life. The beneficial effect has lasted for almost a decade so far in Parkinson's patients, and it's expected the dystonia effect will also be long lasting. SOURCE: WNBC, NY http://www.wnbc.com/drmaxgomez/2347998/detail.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn