Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. The symptoms usually begin on a gradual note and worsen over time, even making walking and talking difficult to execute.
TREATMENT: ULTRASOUND THALAMOTOMY
Focused ultrasound thalamotomy is a special type of focused ultrasound procedure that can be very effective in managing essential tremors. Present study shows the high effectiveness of MRgFUS in alleviating tremor. All patients who have undergone this procedure experienced decreased tremor in the treated hand. This ultrasound thalamotomy procedure involves destroying a tiny area of the thalamus (that part of the brain that controls body movements) using radio frequency ablation (heat made by radio waves).
Ultrasound thalamotomy is a non-invasive treatment that can allow people living with Parkinson’s disease to control their movements and regain independence. It was first carried out by a team of medics from the University of Dundee’s school of medicine that specializes in research on Parkinson’s disease, in the month of June 2024.
This new Parkinson’s treatment is a milestone for Scottish medicine and Ian Keir, a 63-year-old retired firefighter who was diagnosed with the disease in 2018, was the first to undergo the procedure in Scotland and has since regained deliberate body movements. He asserts that the procedure has had tremendous and miraculous effects and given hope of regaining independence to Parkinson’s patients due to elimination of tremors.
This international clinical trial was hailed as a milestone for Scottish medicine by medics of the university and a miracle by the patient who benefited from it. Although the technology is not yet widely available, several attempts had been made on a limited scale to other 60 patients living with the essential tremor disorder in recent years.
Uncontrollable tremors are a major symptom of the incurable Parkinson’s disease. These tremors are prompted by reduced levels of dopamine in the brain. The non-surgical procedure uses high intensity ultrasound to create a lesion in the part of the brain known as thalamus, the one that controls body movements.
Ian Keir, the beneficiary of the procedure from Carnoustie, Angus, suffered tremors on his right hand for two years before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2018. The tremors made him dependent on his understanding wife who stepped in for him to do things he had become unable to do like writing with his right hand, which had catapulted into illegibility, and other essential duties such as cutting his own food. He had been unable to master writing with his left hand. His research had shown that it was Parkinson’s and it got worse over the years.
The improvement after the procedure, according to him, has been more than a miracle because he can now do things without thinking about them beforehand and although it can’t be termed as a complete cure, the tremors have disappeared and it has cured some of the symptoms associated with the disease.
As the leading center for research into Parkinson’s disease and treatment, Dr Tom Gibertson, a consultant neurologist, also hailed it as a breakthrough for Scottish medicine. According to him, they had already witnessed the transformative impact the procedures have had for patients living with essential tremors, and so a replication of the same to Parkinson’s patients who had long lost faith in ever being independent is a huge boost and privilege. He states that the life changing impact that ultrasound thalamotomy has had on patients is significant and is proof that the research at the university is leading to advances that are capable of transforming the lives of Parkinson’s patients.
On the flip side, the side effects of ultrasound thalamotomy include nausea, headache during the procedure, temporary mild-moderate numbing and tingling of fingertips or lips, temporary unsteadiness in walking which leads to balance problems, and temporary speech or swallowing problems.
But evidently, the gains of the procedure outweigh the repercussions and being a milestone in the control of an incurable Parkinson’s disease, it’s worth both the risk and acclamation.