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Agreed. I think if I were considering DBS now I would wait a little longer. My 2 DBSs helped tremors but little else and this has got to be easier surgery. Ray Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] -------------------------------------------------- From: "Nic Marais" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 12:59 AM To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: spinal cord stimulator for PD > Now this looks promising... > > Nic 57/15 > > On Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 4:46 AM, rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> Novel spinal cord stimulator sparks hope for Parkinson's disease >> treatment >> >> DURHAM, NC - A novel stimulation method, the first potential therapy to >> target the spinal cord instead of the brain, may offer an effective and >> less >> invasive approach for Parkinson's disease treatment, according to >> pre-clinical data published in the journal Science by researchers at Duke >> University Medical Center. >> >> Researchers developed a prosthetic device that applies electrical >> stimulation to the dorsal column in the spinal cord, which is a main >> sensory >> pathway carrying tactile information from the body to the brain. The >> device >> was attached to the surface of the spinal cord in mice and rats with >> depleted levels of the chemical dopamine - mimicking the biologic >> characteristics of someone with Parkinson's disease along with the >> impaired >> motor skills seen in advanced stages of the disease. >> >> When the device was turned on, the dopamine-depleted animals' slow, stiff >> movements were replaced with the active behaviors of healthy mice and >> rats. >> Improved movement was typically observed within 3.35 seconds after >> stimulation. >> >> "We see an almost immediate and dramatic change in the animal's ability >> to >> function when the device stimulates the spinal cord," says senior study >> investigator Miguel Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D., the Anne W. Deane Professor >> of >> Neuroscience at Duke. "Moreover, it is easy to use, significantly less >> invasive than other alternatives to medication, such as deep brain >> stimulation, and has the potential for widespread use in conjunction with >> medications typically used to treat Parkinson's disease." >> >> Researchers tested mice and rats with acute and chronic dopamine deficit >> using varying levels of electrical stimulation and in combination with >> different doses of dopamine replacement therapy, also known as >> 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine or L-DOPA, to determine the most effective >> pairing. >> >> When the device was used without additional medication, Parkinsonian >> animals were 26 times more active. When stimulation was coupled with >> medication, only two L-DOPA doses were needed to produce movement >> compared >> to five doses when the medication was used by itself. >> >> "This work addresses an important need because people living with >> Parkinson's disease face a difficult reality - L-Dopa will eventually >> stop >> managing the symptoms," explains Romulo Fuentes, a postdoctoral fellow at >> Duke University and lead author of the study. "Patients are left with few >> options for treatment, including electrical stimulation of the brain, >> which >> is appropriate for only a subset of patients." >> >> While deep brain stimulation (DBS) and other experimental treatments >> attack >> the disease at its origin - in the brain - Nicolelis and team took a >> different approach. The concept for the device began when researchers >> made a >> surprising connection with another neurological condition. >> "It was a moment of sudden insight," explains Nicolelis. "We were >> analyzing >> the brain activity of mice with Parkinson's disease and suddenly it >> reminded >> me of some research I'd done in the epilepsy field a decade earlier. The >> ideas began to flow from there." >> >> The rhythmic brain activity in the animals with Parkinson's disease >> resembled the mild, continuous, low-frequency seizures that are seen in >> those with epilepsy. One effective therapy for treating epilepsy involves >> stimulating the peripheral nerves, which facilitate communication between >> the spinal cord and the body. Researchers took that concept and developed >> a >> modified approach for a Parkinson's disease model. >> Nicolelis says that the low frequency seizures, or oscillations, seen in >> the animal model of Parkinson's disease have been observed in humans with >> the condition. Stimulating the dorsal column of the spinal cord reduces >> these oscillations, which researchers believe creates the ability to >> produce >> motor function. >> >> In a healthy body, neurons fire at varying rates as information is >> transmitted between the brain and the body to initiate normal movement. >> This >> process breaks down in someone with Parkinson's disease. >> >> "Our device works as an interface with the brain to produce a neural >> state >> permissive for locomotion, facilitating immediate and dramatic recovery >> of >> movement," says Per Petersson, co-author of the study. "Following >> stimulation, the neurons desynchronize, similar to the firing pattern >> that >> you would see when a healthy mouse is continuously moving." >> >> Nicolelis says that if the device is proven safe and effective through >> further research, he imagines it mirroring similar spinal cord stimulator >> technology currently used to treat chronic pain. Small leads are >> implanted >> over the spinal cord and then connected to a portable generator, a small >> device capable of producing mild electrical currents. During the trial >> period, the generator is external, while for permanent treatment it would >> be >> implanted below the skin. >> >> "If we can demonstrate that the device is safe and effective over the >> long >> term in primates and then humans, virtually every patient could be >> eligible >> for this treatment in the near future," Nicolelis said. >> >> The Duke team is collaborating with neuroscientists at the Edmond and >> Lily >> Safra International Institute of Neuroscience in Natal, Brazil, to test >> the >> new procedure in primate models of Parkinson's disease prior to >> initiating >> clinical studies. Neuroscientists from the Brain and Mind Institute at >> the >> Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL), in Lausanne, Switzerland, will also >> participate in this international research effort to translate these new >> findings into clinical practice. >> ### >> Study co-authors include William Siesser and Marc Caron. >> >> 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 >> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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