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Dear List Members: Diane has sent me loads of posts on this particular case. I"m posting 2 of them in the hope it will alleviate some of the fears people naturally have about DBS. I think I've mentioned that it stopped my tremors, but my voice is worse and my fine motor skills and walking are still poor. But I seem to have plateaued. The most interesting thing is that I am never depressed and don't take any PD meds. My computer guy, Jeff, says it is probably because I am so busy "fighting" and digging a hole. Before the DBS I never went out to eat, it was too much trouble. Anyway, I think DBS is worth a try at a good place, of course. Ray New life for brain injury patient Electrode implant success is startling August 2, 2007 BY TOM AVRIL PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER PHILADELPHIA -- Six years after he was mugged while walking home one night -- beaten and kicked and left for dead, his skull partially caved in -- a man regained the ability to talk, chew and swallow after slender electrodes were implanted deep in his brain. The patient, whose unprecedented recovery took place at a rehabilitation hospital in central New Jersey, had been in a minimally conscious state, and his parents had all but given up hope. For years, he kept his eyes closed most of the time, sometimes responding to questions with slight finger movements or an occasional faint shake of the head. He was fed through a tube. Now 38, he is alert and can brush his hair and bring a cup to his mouth to drink. Recently, he recited the first 16 words of the Pledge of Allegiance. "He can cry and he can laugh," his mother said tearfully Wednesday, joining in a teleconference with her son's doctors. "He can say, 'I love you, Mommy.' " The doctors cautioned that their results, reported in today's issue of the journal Nature, would not apply to patients such as Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman whose life became a sociopolitical flashpoint in 2005. She was in a persistent vegetative state, whereas the male patient -- whose identity is not being made public -- was clinging to consciousness and had large regions of his brain intact. Schiavo received a similar implant, but it had no effect. The operation described in the new study, the first such implant in a minimally conscious patient, could offer hope for the families of thousands who have similar brain injuries. The patient's mother expressed hope that her son's success might translate to some wounded soldiers returning from Iraq. Traumatic brain injury has been called the signature injury of the war, as soldiers who might once have bled to death are surviving with the help of body armor and other advances. Researchers warned that their study involved just one patient to date, though 11 more are to receive implants under special approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Still, the results are encouraging, said Ashwini Sharan, a neurosurgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia who was not involved with the study. Doctors have long told families that no effective treatment exists for brain injuries, he said. "We have to go think about all these people we forgot," Sharan said. Though they are still a thing of the future for people with brain injuries, 40,000 electrodes have been successfully implanted in people with various illnesses. Most have Parkinson's disease. Scientists do not know exactly why the process works, but the electrodes transmit a current that seems to block the abnormal signals that cause a patient to have tremors. The electrodes are inserted into a region of the brain called the subthalamic nucleus. The patient has electrodes permanently implanted in a region located just above that called the thalamus. In both cases, the current is delivered from pacemaker-like devices implanted in the chest. Such devices also are undergoing clinical trials in patients who have mental illness, including severe forms of depression and anxiety. And Sharan said he has participated in a trial of the device for patients with epilepsy. . Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn