Potential breakthrough treatment for Parkinson's Disease
Patient from Frederick says the treatment turned back the clock for her
By Carolyn Blackburne | cblackburne@whag.com
Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center said they may have found a breakthrough treatment for Parkinson’s disease patients. Doctors said it’s already turned back the clock for one Parkinson’s patient from Frederick.
Kimberly Spletter said her Parkinson’s disease stripped her of her mobility. She sometimes she couldn’t even walk.
“My husband was helping me cut my food up, just a month ago,” Spletter said.
Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease of the nervous system. Paul Fishman, a Neurologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said there is no cure for the disease, only an old treatment with its own set of side-effects.
“As time goes on, it’s not as effective. As the disease gets worse, it works erratically,” Fishman said.
But now, doctors are experimenting with a new treatment, that’s never been done before. It’s called MRI Guided Ultrasound. Howard Eisenberg, a neurologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said Spletter is put into an MRI machine so that doctors can get a close-up look at her brain’s activity. Then, ultrasound waves are targeted to the part of her brain that’s linked with the uncontrolled movements.
“The symptoms we’re trying to relieve are those symptoms like tremor, rigidity,” Eisenberg said.
Spletter said she underwent this treatment in August, and now, just one month later, she can walk. She can even ride her bike again.
“Anything I ever wanted to do, I can do again. I can ride my bike, I can run, I can walk, I can take my grandson to the park, I can do everything.
Spletter was the first person to undergo this treatment at the University of Maryland Medical Center, so Eisenberg and Fishman said they have no idea how long its effects will last.
“I have a whole new life ahead of me again. I thought that everything that was holding me back, it’s not anymore. I can do anything I want now,” Spletter said.
Eisenberg and Fishman said there is still a very long road ahead of them before this treatment could become a mainstream solution for Parkinson’s patients. But they are hopeful, because it is incredibly rare for clinical trials like this to produce immediate results.
Because Spletter is the first and only patient to undergo this treatment, Eisenberg and Fishman said they will continue to check-up on her progress over the next few years. WHAG will be following her story to see how this groundbreaking treatment holds up.
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