Mesothelioma: A Killer Lurks in the Lungs

Brain stimulation slightly improves Parkinson's

Last Updated: 2004-09-22 16:38:15 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Electrical stimulation of a brain region called the subthalamic nucleus provides only modest benefits to patients with Parkinson's disease, according to a report in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

However, according to a second paper in the same journal, men tend to experience improvements in sexual functioning after the procedure.

Dr. B. Ford and colleagues at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center evaluated the outcome of 30 patients with advanced Parkinson's disease who were treated with electrical stimulation.

One year after implantation of stimulation device, the 12 who responded the best improved by 53 percent in movement ability on a standard rating scale. Ten showed improvements that were no higher than 30 percent, while six were unchanged.

Although stimulation provided other benefits, the authors note that, by itself, stimulation was inferior to drug treatment. Moreover, most patients could not tolerate being off drug treatment. Most patients reported being somewhat satisfied with stimulation therapy.

"Further refinements in devices and techniques are clearly needed," Ford's group concludes.

In the second report, Dr. Lorys Castelli, at the Centre for Cognitive Science in Turin, Italy, and colleagues assessed sexual functioning in patients treated with electrical stimulation. Patients were evaluated 1 month before implantation of the stimulation device and again 9 to 12 months later.

Men showed less dissatisfaction at the second evaluation. The difference was most apparent in the seven who were 60 years of age or younger, who reported improvements in the frequency of intercourse, satisfaction, and less avoidance of sex.

However, the 10 women showed no improvement in sexual satisfaction.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. S. F. Farmer, at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, comments that patients often report feeling apathetic and lacking interest in sex.

These papers "encourage us to explore new ways of improving Parkinson's disease patients' well-being through psychological, physical, endocrine, pharmacological, and surgical interventions," Farmer writes.

SOURCE: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, September 2004.

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