Brain implant eases Parkinson's symptoms

Mike O’Leary of Surprise was just 43 when he was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease.

He had to quit his job at the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, and begin treatment for the disease.

But standard medical treatment began causing such severe side-effects he experienced paranoia and hallucinations, mostly directed at his wife, Linda, who has been diagnosed with familial Parkinson’s.

O’Leary was continually accusing Linda of infidelity until it became too much for her to take.

“She left me for six months,” O’Leary, now 51, said.

In July, O’Leary became the first person in Arizona to receive a rechargeable, deep brain stimulation implant, a device that works similar to a pacemaker that stimulates a precise area of the brain to address symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and essential tremors, stopping the tremors.

Qualified patients who opt for deep-brain stimulation have motor-skill challenges that significantly interfere with their quality of life and cannot be controlled by medication.

O’Leary said everything has improved for him, he’s on less medication, and Linda is back home.

His surgeon, David Pootrakul, discussed deep brain stimulation at Banner Boswell Medical Center Monday, and will repeat the lecture at a Parkinson’s event Oct. 31 at Rio Vista Recreation Center in Peoria.

Pootrakul said deep brain stimulation is being used for treatment of those with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s (tremors while not moving), essential tremors (tremors that exhibit when a patient moves) and dystonia (a neurological movement disorder), but may also be used for obsessive compulsive disorder, and in the future obesity and satiety.

Pootrakul said he has performed the procedure on more than 70 patients who have overwhelmingly experienced improvement in tremors and other symptoms including stiffness, rigidity, balance and walking.

Getting the precise placement of the electrical probes takes an merger of CT scan and MRI reports and an hour and a half of calculations just prior to surgery.

Pootrakul said he has performed the surgery on patients as young as their 30s to those in their 80s, and bases it on overall health and desired outcome.

“For some of the young (inplant recipients) after the procedure, you can’t tell they have Parkinson’s now,” Pootrakul said.