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Download and Read Our Latest Survey Results
Speech in Individuals with Parkinson's Disease with and without Deep Brain Stimulation. (Jan. 09)
Info discussed in Medical Community
> Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease. Neuropsychiatric symptoms, or mental disorders associated with nervous system dysfunction, are common features of Parkinson’s disease (PD) that affect a majority of patients with PD. Since these symptoms significantly impact patient quality of life and worsen the functional impairment already experienced in PD, researchers are concerned with developing better, more efficient ways of clinically approaching... read more
> Does Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) prevent progression of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) or it only masks some of the symptoms of PD? Long term biochemical changes in the Parkinsonian brain with and without deep brain stimulation using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) ... read more
Current Science Review
One team reviews DBS complications at their site.
The purpose of this article was to discuss what these authors have learned from completing the DBS surgery as well as to discuss the possible complications as well as what can be done to prevent such difficulties while moving forward with this treatment.
Conferences and Special Events
Neural Interfaces Conference: Long Beach, California June 21, 2010
The Parkinson Alliance has been attending the Neural Interfaces Conference since 2005, and this is the first time the meeting has been held on the West coast. This particular conference kicked off the first official day with a Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) consortium.
Alliance Team visits Huntington Memorial Hospital DBS Team
In February, 2010, The Parkinson Alliance was invited by the Movement Disorder’s team at Huntington Memorial Hospital (HMH) in Pasadena, California to become more familiar with their program. We thought it would be interesting for our readers to get a glimpse into how this Movement Disorders Program approaches DBS procedures as a treatment for their Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients.
DBS in the continuum of care for PD and other movement disorders
The Parkinson Alliance staff attended the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Forum in Dallas to help educate a large group of general neurologists about DBS therapy.
The Parkinson Alliance Pays Customer Visit to Medtronic.
MyPDSupport.com YouTube Video and Website!
The Science and Practice of LOUD: Empowering People with Parkinson disease.
"Life With a Battery-Operated Brain, A Patient's Guide to Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease"
On behalf of DBS-STN.org, I invite you to get involved.
DBS-STN.org is committed to helping improve the quality of life of DBS-STN patients and their caregivers. Through patient and caregiver surveys, we are not only asking questions but providing answers that will help the DBS-STN community. Please join us in coming together, discussing issues, and answering questions.
For your convenience, we've also added links to the latest health-related news stories.
Margaret Tuchman, Founder of DBS-STN.org, President of The Parkinson Alliance, and DBS-STN patient 12/00
On April 1st-3rd The Parkinson Alliance (with shared sponsorship provided by the Davis Phinney Foundation, the LSVT Foundation, and the National Parkinson Foundation) convened a panel of the world’s experts on DBS for PD. The task assigned to these experts was not to craft a typical consensus statement for themselves, but to come up with a document aimed squarely at their true customers—the patients. These world leaders discussed the current matters related to DBS therapy and where we need to go with this intervention. The ultimate focus was on improving the effectiveness of the intervention and the quality of life of those individuals who have undergone or those who will choose to undergo DBS.
The topics of the Consensus Meeting were many and included patient selection, gait and speech DBS outcomes, non-motor DBS outcomes (mood and cognition) and long-term DBS outcomes, to name a few. The final report is being published and soon thereafter will be on the website.
View a written report of the Patient Forum that occurred at the Consensus Meeting.
Find a DBS programmer
Finding a DBS programmer in your area can be challenging but very important for the longterm care and maintenance of neurostimulator implants. We have recently launched a website, www.dbsprogrammer.com, that is now available to help current and future patients find DBS programmers. Programmers are registered by state and each will have their own web page with biographical information and appointment scheduling information. Individuals or patients can also register for updates that are sent when new programmers are added. Help build this much needed database by asking your programmer to register.
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