Parkinson`s Disease and
Movement Disorders Center at
Pennsylvania Hospital Offers New
Approach for Treating Tremor
August 5, 1997
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 4 -- The
first new treatment approach in 30 years for disabling tremor due
to Essential Tremor and tremor associated with Parkinson's
disease is now available at the Parkinson's Disease and
Movement Disorders Center at Pennsylvania Hospital, affiliated
with the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Today it was
announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
approved the new tremor control therapy which uses an implanted
pacemaker-like device to deliver mild, electrical stimulation to
block the brain signals that cause tremor.
Tremor -- the disabling, involuntary rhythmic shaking of the limbs
or other parts of the body -- is the only symptom of Essential
Tremor and one of four major symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
"The Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center is
extremely excited to be able to offer the benefits of tremor control
therapy to our patients," says Matthew Stern, MD, Director,
Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center. "Tremor
severely impacts patients' quality of life as well as their ability to
function in day-to-day activities. Unfortunately, many sufferers
continue to live with tremor because they assume that it is part of
the normal aging process or that nothing can be done. Tremor
control therapy has the potential to provide dramatic
life-enhancing benefits for the many sufferers of tremor."
Essential Tremor is the most common neurological movement
disorder in this country. The condition afflicts at least one million
Americans, usually age 45 or older. Parkinson's disease is a
progressive and degenerative neurological disease that affects
approximately 500,000 people in the United States. Tremor
worsens from mild to disabling at a variable rate, depending on
the individual. Currently, thousands of people throughout
Europe, Canada and Australia have been able to control their
tremor through tremor control therapy.
Tremor control therapy consists of an insulated wire lead that is
surgically implanted deep within the brain's communication
center, the thalamus. The lead is connected by an extension wire
passed under the skin to an implanted pulse generator, similar to a
cardiac pacemaker, which is implanted near the collarbone.
Patients control the stimulation by passing a hand-held magnet
over the implanted pulse generator to turn it on or off, or to
increase or decrease stimulation depending on their tremor
suppression needs. Physicians program the generator in the office
to deliver the precise stimulation needed for each individual
patient.
Tremor control therapy is a safe and dependable alternative for
the large percentage of patients in whom drug therapy has been
ineffective. Furthermore, the therapy is 100 percent reversible
should new medical advances be developed.
Patients interested in tremor control therapy should consult the
Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at
Pennsylvania Hospital to discuss benefits and risks and to assess
whether this therapy is appropriate for them.
The Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center,
founded in 1982 by Dr. Stern and Howard I. Hurtig, MD, is the
only provider of comprehensive care for Parkinson's disease, a
common disorder of the central nervous system, and other
movement disorders in the Delaware Valley. The center is
recognized by the National Parkinson Foundation as one of its
Worldwide Centers of Excellence.
SOURCE Pennsylvania Hospital
/CONTACT: Carson Clark or Lorie Martin of Pennsylvania
Hospital, 215-829-3971/
