14 DAY TRIAL // Deep brain stimulation technique, also known as bilateral pallidal neurostimulation in formal language, has been found to efficiently work against a neurological disorder called dystonia, which affects movement by triggering involuntary muscle contractions which eventually lead to repetitive movements and other such problems.
A recent study carried out by German and US researchers published their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine and concluded that deep brain stimulation, a method also proved efficient in treating some symptoms of depression and Parkinson's disease, works on dystonia by improving movement problems caused by the neurological disorder.
Deep brain stimulation is not a breakthrough method, as it has also previously been used for other conditions, but it is a promising method which may help patients who no longer respond to medication. It "is a reasonable treatment for people who have failed other therapies," said study co-researcher Dr Guenther Deuschl, Professor of Neurology and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany.
The study was conducted on 40 patients who suffered from primary segmental dystonia or generalized dystonia, therefore partially or totally affected by the neurological disorder. The 40 subjects have been randomly assigned to a group which received deep brain stimulation or to a group which received sham stimulation. More specifically, patients in the treatment group received neurostimulation through a small device implanted below their skin, while those in the control group did not receive actual stimulation.
Tests taken after a 3-month period showed that dystonia symptoms and movement problems improved by as much as 39% in subjects in the treatment group. Moreover, tests taken after the 6-month trial showed that neurostimulation is highly effective against repetitive body movements caused by the neurological disorder, as deep brain stimulation eased by 46% symptoms in patients.
Dr Guenther Deuschl concluded: "We wanted to know whether deep brain stimulation for dystonia is an adequate procedure or not. It simply shows that patients with generalized and segmental dystonia do better when they receive stimulation than if they do not. A 51 percent reduction in the movement score is a dramatic result when it comes to treatment of dystonia. To have such a degree of improvement is exceptional for other therapeutics."