Shared from parkinsonsnewstoday.com.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) can provide lasting relief from motor symptoms and help people with Parkinson’s disease function better day to day over time, while reducing the need for medication, according to a study led by University of Florida (UF) Health.
The new study showed that improvements in motor scores among patients following the surgical procedure — in which thin electrodes are implanted into the brain — were still seen after five years.
According to the researchers, these findings demonstrate the long-term benefits of DBS in people with Parkinson’s.
“For the first time, we can clearly see that the benefits of DBS, improvements in motor symptoms, reduced medication needs and better quality of life are sustained at five years,” Adolfo Ramirez-Zamora, MD, a neurology professor and division chief of movement disorders at the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health, said in a university press release.