BALTIMORE, Md. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – One million Americans are living with Parkinsons disease. Medications can help with the symptoms, and for some patients, deep brain stimulation, or DBS, works to control the tremors. Now, doctors are using focused ultrasound to target the area of the brain causing the problems. The challenge doctors are facing is that they have only been able to perform the procedure on one side of the brain, meaning the patient would only have improvement on one side, until now.
For the first time in years, Mark Witman’s hands are steady. His Parkinson’s symptoms started 13 years ago.
“I was just favoring my one side and dragging my foot,” Witman recalls.
Medication controlled it at first, but eventually, for this lifetime Orioles fan, Parkinson’s put a damper on a 20-year long tradition. Every year on opening day after the game, Witman and his family would watch the movie “Field of Dreams.”
“If you’re familiar with the movie, at the end, father and son have a catch. It’s been getting tougher and tougher for me to throw and catch,” Witman explains.
Witman went to see professor of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Paul Fishman, PhD. Professor Fishman recommended a non-invasive procedure called focused ultrasound. Doctors use MRI guidance to send ultrasonic soundwaves through the skull.
Professor Fishman says, “When that sound energy hits brain, it’s converted into heat, eliminating the tiny tissue that’s causing the problem.”
Focused ultrasound is FDA-approved for one side of the brain, but Witman was part of a clinical trial performing the procedure on both sides.
“This particular research study demands that people do well for a six-month period before it’s a go to do the second side,” Professor Fishman continues.
Witman had the first ultrasound procedure in January and followed with the other side six months later.
“You could feel it immediately,” Witman exclaims.
For Witman, this year’s tradition was better than years past.
“We had our catch and, right away, I knew, I could throw,” Witman tells Ivanhoe.
The bilateral focused ultrasound procedure has been done successfully on patients in Switzerland and Japan. The trial is being conducted at four sites in the United States — at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in New York at Weill Cornell Medical School and New York University – Langone, and Stanford in California.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Producer; Kirk Manson, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.
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Sources:
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: FOCUSED ULTRASOUND TO TREAT PARKINSON’S: A HOME RUN FOR MARK
REPORT: MB #5129
BACKGROUND: Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. Although most people with Parkinson’s first develop the disease after age 60, about 5% to 10% experience onset before the age of 50. The prevalence of PD has doubled in the past 25 years. Global estimates in 2019 showed over 8.5 million individuals with PD. Current estimates suggest that PD resulted in 5.8 million disability-adjusted life years, an increase of 81% since 2000, and caused 329 000 deaths, an increase of over 100% since 2000.
DIAGNOSING: The best-known symptoms of Parkinson’s disease involve loss of muscle control. However, experts now know that muscle control-related issues aren’t the only possible symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Motor symptoms — which means movement-related symptoms — of Parkinson’s disease include the following: slowed movements (bradykinesia), a tremor while muscles are at rest, rigidity, or stiffness, blinking less often than usual, drooling, or trouble swallowing (dysphagia). When healthcare providers suspect Parkinson’s disease or need to rule out other conditions, various imaging and diagnostic tests are possible. These include blood tests, a computerized tomography (CT) scan, genetic testing, an MRI, or a PET scan.
(Source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8525-parkinsons-disease-an-overview)
NEW TECHNOLOGY: A non-invasive ultrasound treatment for Parkinson’s disease that was tested in a pivotal trial led by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers is now broadly available at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). The device, called Exablate Neuro, was approved in November by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat advanced Parkinson’s disease on one side of the brain. The approval was based on findings from the UMSOM clinical trial and effectively expands access to focused ultrasound beyond clinical trial participation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Deborah Kotz
(410) 706-4255
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com
