Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a radical new way to treat neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Their procedure involves implanting a thin probe connected to a tiny pump into a patient’s brain that delivers precisely measured and targeted drugs to specific brain areas. While this brain implant pump is a long way off from being installed in human patients, it has shown promise in an initial studies. For more specific details, & full Text, see this link > [stm.sciencemag.org]
That is what my brain told me that needed drugs injected.
In Argentina (Posadas Hosp.) a group of neurosurgeons and professionals in related fields perform a localized minor intervention that in certain cases of Parkinson the patients recovers 100%. This procedure is not for all Parkinson patients.....A friend's mother's hands were "dancing non-stop"(as she described the condition). Today, after two years from the time of the treatment, her hands don't dance anymore.
The MIT researchers published their findings in a paper on Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The main idea behind their device, called a “miniaturized neural drug delivery system” (MiNDS), is that it can precisely treat specific clusters of neurons without causing side effects. This improves upon previous methods that introduce drugs into the cerebrospinal fluid, which can also cause off-target effects.
Currently, people living with neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease face seemingly impossible alternatives: They can either let their disease progress as symptoms like tremors and loss of balance worsen, or they can take drugs that have unintentional, off-target effects. These days, one of the most common therapies for Parkinson’s disease is the combination of drugs carbidopa and levodopa (usually under the brand name Sinemet), which can alleviate symptoms but also creates some long-term side effects that impair patients’ voluntary muscular movement.