Eliminate Parkinson's symptoms

What is Parkinson Disease?

Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder which affects seven to ten million people worldwide, like Tino, the patient in the video. The shortage of the substance that is used in the brain to transmit signals (dopamine), causes the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease to appear. There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s disease. Treatment is typically focused on restoring dopamine level. 

Is conventional medication the best solution? Are there any alternative treatments?

Levodopa is a medication which is effective in managing the initial symptoms of Parkinson disease. Like Tino, a posto-operative patient of deep brain stimulation says, over time its effectiveness is reduced. This results in periods of the day with poor or no response to medication (off time) that alternate with periods of improved function (on time).

Eventually levodopa or dopamine agonist causes dyskinesia (involuntary movements). This affects deeply the quality of life of the patients. With time patients need more and more medication and it produces unpleasant side effects.

Why being treated with Deep Brain Stimulation?

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a well-established, safe, and effective treatment that helps improve day-to-day experiences for movement disorder patients. DBS helps improve motor fluctuations and dyskinesia in people with Parkinson disease.

The DBS procedure includes a modest medical device which sends signals to the brain. The signals help control the motor functions that are affected by movement disorder symptoms such as tremor, slowness and rigidity. The physician will place one or two insulated wires called leads in the brain. The leads are routed beneath the skin to a pacemaker device implanted near your collarbone. The pacemaker and the electrodes at the end of the leads stimulate a specific brain structure with pulses of electricity. This improves off time and involuntary movement. This may help regulate signaling in the brain, resulting in improvement of Parkinson’s disease symptoms.

DBS is not a cure but it may help improve day-to-day experiences and quality of life. Most people will continue to take Parkinson's disease medications but often at a reduced dosage and may recover part or all the activities they used to do before the disease; for instance, being a metalworker again, like Tino.

As he states in the video: "with this stimulator I have the feeling of not having the Parkinson Disease anymore".

Dr Salazar is the Director of Barcelona Parkinson. He and his very experienced team perform all surgeries at the Terrassa Hospital (Barcelona - Spain). He has been practicing the DBS treatment for 15 years, previously in Venezuela and in the last 10 years in Barcelona (Spain). He has performed more than 150 DBS surgeries with excellent results (98,6 percent of pacients without complications occurring at the post operative stage). 

Doctor Salazar works with Boston Scientific devices, leader in medical and prothesical equipment. You may visit their web and then contact us for an appointment with the doctor.

Should you wish to know more about this procedure and if you could be identified as an appropriate candidate for Deep Brain Stimulation by Dr. Salazar, please contact us at info@medabcn.com with your request or complete our 'Contact form' today. You may also call us to the phone number +34 93 595 25 71.

Quotations for all procedures are available upon request. Please, note that some international insurance companies cover the costs of this treatment. We suggest you to verify it with your insurance provider.