Surgery and Parkinsons Disease

Surgery for someone who has Parkinsons disease is a radical decision not to be taken lightly. It should only ever be considered for someone who has tried every other option possible and is suffering from a severe and debilitating version of the disease. There are grave issues surrounding brain surgery, especially as this type of surgery can bring its own problems.

Brain surgery does not cure Parkinsons disease; it can only ever be used to assist in controlling the symptoms that the disease produces. Many doctors are not convinced about the effectiveness of surgery for those who suffer from Parkinsons disease instead preferring to treat the disease with more conventional medical methods.

If brain surgery is considered to be an effective method of treating Parkinsons disease, then one procedure a patient may undergo is an operation called a Pallidotomy. This consists of a tiny hole being drilled into the skull and an electric probe used to destroy a tiny amount of a brain matter called global pallidus.

Many doctors believe this substance is overactive in those people with the disease. If a person with Parkinsons has extreme dyskinesia (which can be caused by overuse of the medication given to control the symptoms), this procedure can be quite effective in reducing these problems.

A Thalamotomy is a surgical procedure which can be performed on a person who has very bad tremors in their limbs. With this procedure, the thalamus is operated on with some cells being destroyed. It is subject to opinion as to how effective this procedure really is.

Deep brain stimulus is another procedure that can be considered for those suffering from an aggressive form of Parkinsons disease. This process involves inserting an electrode into the brain and using electrical impulses to block signals causing Parkinsonian symptoms. It is also used to stimulate the brain. This is quite a recent innovation, so long term results are not yet known. However they do look promising. Deep brain stimulus has also been tried on the thalamus and it has been reported that it can have quite significant effects on the tremors which are a characteristic of the disease.

There is other surgical treatments that have been tried which many people consider to not be ethical, and these include the transplantation of foetal tissue. There is a large debate as to whether foetal tissue should be used for this type of transplant with many people concerned with the moral implications of using the tissue of unborn children to prolong and enhance the quality of life of another person. This procedure has Benn reported to improve the lives of a small quantity of people, however the techniques involved are not perfect and there are apparently some serious side effects to consider.

Also read our article about Parkinsons Disease and Speech Problems