At Scott & White Memorial Hospital, a multi-disciplinary team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, neurophysiologist, neuropsychologists and a movement disorders specialist are offering hope to some Parkinson's patients with a treatment called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). DBS involves placing a thin wire that carries electrical currents deep within the brain on Parkinson's patients who are no longer benefitting from medications, and have significant uncontrollable body movements called dyskinesia. Scott & White is also performing research into the effects of DBS on the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease including "drenching sweats," bladder dysfunction, depression, hallucination, anxiety, and dementia as well as intestinal disorders, loss of sense of smell, and sleep disturbances.
"We've found that some Parkinson's patients experienced non-motor symptoms up to 20 to 30 years before their Parkinson's diagnosis, which leads us to believe the presence of these symptoms could be used as predictors of the onset of Parkinson's," said Manjit K Sanghera Ph.D. neurophysiologist at Scott & White and associate professor and director of the Human Electrophysiology Lab, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. "If we're better able to identify individuals who are at high risk for Parkinson's, we can engage these patients in neuro-protective therapies, including exercise and medication." Dr. Sanghera's research is funded by the Plummer Foundation.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a brain disorder that occurs when certain nerve cells or neurons in the brain die. When this happens, these cells no longer produce a chemical called dopamine, which facilitates the smooth, coordinated function of our muscles. When about 80% of these neurons die, that's when Parkinson's makes an appearance. The tell-tale signs include tremors, slowness of movement, rigidity, difficulty with balance, small, cramped handwriting, stiff facial expressions, a shuffling walk, and muffled speech.