What is the effect of DBS on the Non Motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease?
What is the effect of DBS on the non motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease?
Deep Brain Stimulation may give partial improvement to some of the non motor symptoms of PD, like sleep dysfunction and urinary bladder problems.
However DBS doesn’t give relief to most of the other non-motor problems, like
• memory and intellectual dysfunction,
• depression,
• anxiety,
• hallucination,
Some of the intellectual functions like word output and fluency of speech could worsen slightly after DBS.
Apart from this, DBS has not been found to have any functionally significant deleterious consequences on memory or intellectual functions. Many patients may perceive some loss of clarity of speech, after DBS, though this rarely results in any limitation in their ability to communicate verbally.
Patients with depression, anxiety, hallucinations, psychosis etc need correction of these problems before undergoing surgery; otherwise there could be a worsening in the post-operative period sometimes resulting in serious medical / social consequences.
Impulse control disorders (This denotes patient’s inability to control the urge to do certain pleasurable activities.
The examples include “compulsive” gambling, hypersexuality, “compulsive” eating, “compulsive” shopping etc) could improve, remain stable or could worsen in some patients after DBS.
Careful screening for intellectual, psychiatric and other ‘non-motor’ problems (many of which may not be evident on a routine office consultation) by specialized ‘neuro-psychological’ tests are required as part of the selection process of patients for DBS.
Disclaimer: The information provided here should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. The information is provided solely for educational purpose and should not be considered a substitute for medical advice.
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