With a view to spread awareness about Parkinson's disease (PD), Jalsok Hospital under the leadership of Dr Paresh Doshi, consultant neurosurgeon in-charge, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre is initiating free camps for the neuro patients on April 1and 8, 2012 at Jaslok Hospital.

This programme is initiated under the yearly campaign undertaken by the hospital called, 'making Parkinson surgery safer', on the occasion of World Parkinson Day, which is celebrated on 11th April.

Parkinson's disease [PD], the neurological movement disorder, which is known to affect one in 1000 people worldwide, is increasing its footprint in India. A disease considered to be affecting only the elderly is found to be increasingly affecting people well below 40 years. The mean age of onset of PD is about 65. However, growing number of people are being diagnosed with neurological disorders under the age of 40 and there are some cases of Parkinson's disease even in the age of 25 to 30 years.

Parkinson's disease is a neuro-degenerative brain disorder that progressively cripples the movement of affected people. The disease occurs when cells in the brain die, depriving the brain of a chemical called dopamine--a neurotransmitter that keeps alive communication among brain cells (neurons).

“There are no known reasons for Parkinson's, genetic factors are reasons for only a small proportion of cases. Once identified, a clinical diagnosis is needed to establish Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's can be identified with following three cardinal features like tremor, slowness of movement, difficulty in walking and rigidity. Parkinson's disease can be controlled though there is no cure. It can only be relieved to an extent by medication. Over a period of time the body does not respond to medicines and extensive medication does have side effects,” informed Dr Doshi, who has done more than 300 DBS procedures.

When symptoms become more pronounced, the patient becomes a burden to the caregivers. Deep Brain Stimulation [DBS] therapy is a good option in carefully selected patients with advanced Parkinson's disease, having side effects of medical therapy. DBS improves the quality of life of this group of patients, informed Dr Doshi.

DBS is a surgical procedure used to treat a variety of disabling neurological symptoms most commonly the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). At present, the procedure is used only for patients whose symptoms cannot be adequately controlled with medications. Those suffering from advanced stages of Parkinson's disease may choose to have electrode implants in the brain to stimulate the neurons through a pacemaker.

Dr Doshi in his interaction today also raised high alarm and increasing concern on making Parkinson surgeries safer. In his recently published research, 'Long-term surgical and hardware complications of deep brain stimulation', in the prestigious journal of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, he highlighted the essential points about the learning curve that was required to make the surgery safer. In his analysis Dr Doshi pointed out that the incidence of major complications like haemorrhage were at 1.2 per cent in their series as compared to 3.5 per cent in the other published series.

Dr Doshi further said, “India is the most sought-after and cost effective medical tourism destination of the world. The cost of most surgeries and medical treatments in India is only a fraction of their cost in developed countries. This applies to treatment and surgeries associated with Parkinson's disease. The average cost of deep brain stimulation surgery in USA is $50,000.  Medical treatment costs in India are lower by at least 50-80 per cent when compared to similar procedures in North America and the UK. Travel and accommodation expenses are also very reasonable and economical. India also offers plenty of complementary and supportive therapy at highly competitive prices; the fact also increases the concern for quality treatment being provided by neurosurgeons in India.”