Electrical Pulses Used to Control Parkinson’s

Delivering pulses of electricity to a small area of the brain called the thalamus is as effective at controlling the tremors of Parkinson’s disease as destroying the thalamus, but has fewer side effects, Dutch researchers report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Richard Schuurman and his colleagues at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam found that destroying the thalamus produced complete suppression of tremors in 26 of 34 patients, but that up to 41% of patients suffered such side effects as difficulties in reasoning, language problems and decreased initiative. Electrical stimulation suppressed tremors in 28 of 34 volunteers, and the side effects were less severe.

--Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II