FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 19, 2009

national study on Parkinson’s treatment shows Promise for brain stimulation efforts

Local neurosurgeon treats patients here with breakthrough treatment

Parkinson’s sufferers who had electrodes implanted in their brains improved substantially more than those who took only medicine, according to the biggest test yet of deep brain stimulation.

The study, published Jan. 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, followed patients for six months and offers the most hopeful news to date for Parkinson’s sufferers. The new technique reduced tremors, rigidity and flailing of the limbs and allowed people to move freely for nearly five extra hours a day.

Dr. Scott Kutz treats patients with Parkinson’s disease at St. John’s and considers deep brain stimulation a very good method for alleviating symptoms. Kutz is a functional neurosurgeon, the area’s only fellowship trained neurosurgeon in this subspecialty. Functional neurosurgery is concerned with the treatment of conditions where central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) function is abnormal.

"Deep Brain Stimulation or DBS, provides a reversible means of suppressing many of the disabling symptoms of Parkinson's Disease such as tremor, stiffness, and slowness of movements,” Kutz explained. “The latest techniques for implantation are now available to residents of the Ozarks without the need to travel hundreds of miles to find a qualified center for treatment."

There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, which affects more than 1 million Americans. Patients suffer from increasingly severe tremors and periodically rigid limbs as their brains stop making dopamine, a chemical needed for movement. They can have trouble walking, speaking and writing, and often struggle with depression.

■ Read more about DBS at St. John's

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For media information, contact St. John’s Media Relations at 417-820-2426 or cora.scott@mercy.net.

NOte to reporters: We do have a patient willing to share his story.