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Greg, you have said it all. DBS was supposed to improve about 50% of PWPs. Now, ´serious´ people say it is useful to 5-15% of PWPs. But of course, that is without counting juicy profit... Maryse cg JOhn 78,18 > I have had PD for 12+ years and although I have to use a countdown timer > watch to make sure I redose my sinemet and comtan every 2 and 1/2 hours to > make sure I don't turn into a statue for a few hours as I get back "on" if > I am late with a redose, I still am not seriously considering DBS yet. That > day may well come, but not yet. > > Yes, many lives have been measurably improved by DBS surgery. But I have > also known many persons to have had to undergo successive surgeries because > of infection, persons whose voices have been severely damaged by a slight > misplacement of the lead wires during the surgery, as well as people for > whom the benefits were minimal at best. Not to mention this is surgery to > the midbrain with one's head bolted to an operating table. > > I would also raise the question of why DBS is now being promoted so heavily > for early stage PD when it was originally promoted as an option to be > considered only when traditional PD medications had ceased to be realiably > effective. Just last night I saw an ad extolling DBS for PD on television - > the surgical version of the much criticised "direct to patient" advertising > by big Pharma for prescription drugs like lipitor and celebrex and many > others (including now Requip). > > I may be cynical, but I think it is important to realize that not only is > DBS a big and very profitable business these days, it is also a product > which clearly has a shelf life. That is, as encouraging clinical trials > continue for ceregene, spheramine, and other therapies that may soon > actually retard or reverse the progress of PD rather than merely mask > symptoms (which is as true for DBS brain surgery as it is for sinemet), > physicians and clinics and companies like Medtronic (which manufactures the > equipment used in the surgery) know that as soon as one of these new > therapies hits the market, the market for DBS will shrink faster than > shallow pool of water on a hot summer day. Market considerations drive the > promotion of any product, and DBS is nothing if not a product. And lest we > overestimate the purity of those in the medical and medical products > community, the recent scandal involving accusations of payoffs in the > millions to Doctors in Wisconsin by Medtronic sales reps should serve as a > sobering example that if Diogenes were still wandering around looking for > an honest man, he probably wouldn't start with Hippocrates. > > For what it's worth, > > Greg ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn