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I agree with this and am so glad my suspicions have been confirmed at least with respect to animals. Ray Having Surgery Sooner Might Help More Parkinson Patients After having the surgery, Dale Ankenman can ride a bike again. A common surgery that eases the symptoms of Parkinson's disease may soon be recommended earlier than ever before. Researchers have discovered deep brain stimulation no longer needs to be a late stage treatment. Due to complications from Parkinson?Ts disease, Dale Ankenman could no longer go tandem bike riding with his wife Barbara. The neurological disorder where dopamine-producing brain cells appear to die off usually produces tremors, called dyskinesia, and other difficulty with movement. Ankenman made the difficult decision to have an operation called ?odeep brain stimulation,? a surgery usually reserved only for those in later stages of Parkinson?Ts. In the procedure, doctors place electrodes deep patient?Ts brain to help stimulate those cells again. Parkinson Specialist Dr. George Mandybur said, ?It alters the function of the cells in the brain that are working abnormally because of the disease.? While he's had a few minor adjustments, by all accounts, the surgery was a success. ?oThe dyskinesia are all but gone, I have had virtually none, my head doesn't move involuntarily when I talk, which was a big concern of mine,? he said. The Ankenmans are even biking again. Early research shows he may be able to continue for a long time. Mandybur and a team of scientists just released a new study which shows deep brain stimulation may not just reduce symptoms of Parkinson?Ts, but also offer some protection to the cells which normally die off over time. This is preliminary research; follow-up studies to confirm the results still need to be conducted. Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson 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