Parkinson’s disease, a condition that affects almost 100,000 new people every year, is a relentless enemy. It slowly takes away a person’s control over their movements, making even the simplest tasks a struggle.
Now, scientists from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Charité-Berlin University of Medicine have found a glimmer of hope.
They suggest that a treatment known as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), when applied in a particular way, might be able to slow down or even stop Parkinson’s progression in its earliest stages.
How Deep Brain Stimulation Works
DBS is a unique treatment. The procedure involves placing an electrode deep inside the brain while the patient is awake.
This allows doctors to test the patient’s response in real-time, ensuring the electrode is positioned exactly where it needs to be.
This can be such a precise process that patients have been known to play musical instruments during the operation to help doctors find the optimal electrode placement!
Until now, every treatment for Parkinson’s disease could only help with symptoms temporarily, but none could halt the progression of the disease itself.
DBS, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1997, was no exception.
However, a fresh look at data collected from a study conducted over 15 years ago suggests that DBS may offer more than just symptom relief for some patients.
New Insights from an Old Study
The original study, led by Dr. Mallory Hacker, assistant professor of Neurology at VUMC, and senior author Dr. David Charles, professor and vice-chair of Neurology, was designed to test the safety of DBS in early-stage Parkinson’s patients.
Among the 15 patients who underwent DBS, five experienced a halt in the progression of their motor symptoms after two years.
The researchers couldn’t identify what these five patients had in common. That changed when Dr. Hacker spent a month in Berlin learning a new technique for DBS from Dr. Andreas Horn, one of the method’s developers.
Dr. Hacker found that patients with electrodes placed closer to a certain “sweet spot” in the brain managed their symptoms better, requiring fewer drugs and less stimulation from their implants.
A Foundation for Future Studies
While similar positive results have been seen in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, this is the first time anyone has observed a potential slowing of disease progression in the early stages.
“We can’t take this result as an indication that we should change clinical practice or change the way DBS is done today.
But it does provide us with a great foundation to further explore if DBS applied in early-stage Parkinson’s may slow motor progression,” Dr. Hacker said.
This discovery has opened up an exciting new avenue for Parkinson’s disease research. The FDA has now granted the Vanderbilt team permission to conduct a crucial study.
They will work to definitively determine if early-stage DBS can slow or halt the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
This could be a potential game-changer for those living with this debilitating disease, offering them hope for a brighter, healthier future.
If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies that Vitamin B may slow down cognitive decline, and Mediterranean diet could help lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing Plant-based diets could protect cognitive health from air pollution.
The study was published in the Annals of Neurology.
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