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Interesting!! I was 67 when I had DBSs and I swear it is why I am never depressed and have made more of an effort to do things even though it is difficult. Before DBSs I had stopped going out to eat, now it is at least once a week. DBS stopped my ocular migraines and I don't take tranquilizers (took 1/2 of one a day before) anymore either. Ray, now an "elderly" 71 ----- Original Message ----- From: "M.Schild" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 8:22 AM Subject: Quality of Life in Elderly Parkinson's Patients Not Improved by Deep Brain Stimulation > Subject: Quality of Life in Elderly Parkinson's Patients Not Improved by > Deep > Brain Stimulation > Date: Wednesday 16 May 2007 19:33 > > > By Will Boggs, MD > NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 04 - Deep brain stimulation of the > subthalamic > nucleus (DBS-STN) reduces motor complications in elderly patients with > severe > Parkinson disease, but it does not improve their quality of life, > according > to a report in the April 24th issue of Neurology. > "Lack of quality-of-life improvement ... raises the question of whether > DBS-STN is appropriate for the parkinsonian population over 65 years old," > Dr. Philippe-Pierre Derost from Hopital Gabriel Montpied, > Clermont-Ferrand, > France told Reuters Health. > Dr. Derost and associates investigated the clinical effects, safety, and > quality of life after bilateral DBS-STN in 87 patient's with Parkinson's > disease -- 53 who were younger than 65 years of age, and 34 who were 65 or > older. > Both groups of patients experienced dramatic improvements in motor > complications, the authors report, with no significant difference between > the > groups. > Unlike the younger patients, however, older patients showed a significant > worsening in Schwab and England Scale scores, a measure of capacity to > perform daily chores. > Moreover, the results indicate, young patients fared significantly better > than old patients in several quality-of-life dimensions, including > mobility, > activities of daily living, stigma, cognition, and communication. > In these five dimensions, young patients experienced improvements, while > old > patients showed stabilization or worsening from the third postoperative > month. > Adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups, the > researchers say. > "The absence of improvement of quality of life in the old population was > surprising since motor complications were reduced similarly in both groups > of > patients," Dr. Derost said. > "In fact," he explained, "lack of improvement of quality of life in > patients > aged more than 65 years old at time of surgery is probably due to a > worsening > of axial symptoms ... responsible for postural instability, dysarthria, > difficulty swallowing, and so on. This effect probably offsets improvement > in > quality of life due to the decrease of motor complications." > This result "should lead us to exclude patients aged more than 65 years > for > DBS," Dr. Derost suggested. "However, there is still some variability in > our > elderly patient sample." > Factors other than age at time of surgery could explain this variability, > as > results were favorable in some of the elderly patients, Dr. Derost > said. "Unfortunately, such predictive factors are still not identified. A > study is being performed in our department to detect these potential > predictive factors to help determine who should undergo DBS." > Neurology 2007;68:1345-1355. > > ------------------------------------------------------- > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn