Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's promises to relieve tremors. Side effects include: apathy, hallucinations, hypersexuality, cognitive dysfunction, depression, and euphoria. Would you have your loved one get the surgery? Has anyone here had success with DBS?
Any surgery is risky and brain surgery more so. My dad developed dementia because of a brain surgery aimed at preventing damage from an old WWII injury, so I'm aware of the risks in a very real way. Still, I believe that, for AD anyway, this may be one of the first real steps forward because people are regaining memory.
For Parkinson's, results may not be as dramatic even though the procedure has been done for several years.
As with all surgery, the pros and cons need to be understood. There's always a risk. In the end the decision is how much does the person stand to gain vs. potential loss. How many people have negative vs. positive outcomes.
It's a difficult decision to put it lightly. I'd ask to talk with a variety of people who've had the procedure.
We'd love to hear how it goes as you move forward (or don't).
Take care,
Carol
I can only tell you the experience my mother has had since her DBS surgery. Mom has had PD for over 45 years, that's a long time to be dealing with the slow progression of the disease. She was a perfect candidate for the DBS because she doesn't have any other issues, no dementia, nothing aside from PD. Also, the Carbadopa/Levodopa meds were able to calm her tremors and ridged muscles, she was on a very high dose.
The surgery itself was a 2 part process, first the brain surgery implanting the wires, and then a second one to implant the battery. Complete recovery was a couple months but the benefits have been more than worth it for mom.
Within days of the second surgery, the unit was set and adjusted and no more tremors. It has been amazing, the first time in my life I had seen my mom sit calmly in a chair without any movement. Her quality of life went way up, instead of having only a few "good" hours during a day, she has "good" hours all day long.
All that being said, the surgery doesn't stop or even slow down the disease and all the other symptoms are still there; lack of balance, swallowing issues, depression, etc. It's been 6 years since she had the surgery and we have never regretted having done it.
I'd recommend you check out the Medtronic website (medtronicdbs) and especially talk with a neurosurgeon that does the surgery. Get 2 or 3 opinions before you proceed.
For my mother, it was absolutely the best decision.
I hope this helps you as you make this very difficult decision with your loved one. At the end of the day, we do the best we can for our loved ones and trust God for the results.
G in New Hampshire
Age of the person, length of having PD, length and escalation framework of the tremors, how much the tremors affect daily life, prognosis of the tremor progression, co-morbidity factors, and whether or not dementia is present.
I did read as well about the side effects but didn't find any information on how often they occur, and the percentage of time they occur, and whether or not they're controllable, presumably by meds.
The potential for cognitive dysfunction and the apparent bi-polar like effects of depression and euphoria would be a big concern. Would additional meds be needed to control that?
I know only one person who has progressive PD but I don't know her well enough to raise this kind of issue. She's merely a remote acquaintance.
Sorry I don't have any more information on this. It sounds like you're faced with a difficult decision. I wish you peace in evaluating this situation and making the right decision for you and your loved one.
I agree it's not for everybody and only your neurologist can make that decision as to whether or not it is a good option. Good luck as you go forward. Susan
You have done all the research....the impact is different on everyone~No clean cut answer here for you.....