Parkinson’s breakthrough means sufferers ‘could sleep through brain surgery’

Parkinson’s sufferers are often put off having brain surgery over fears of being awake throughout the procedure – despite it being proven to improve quality of life, experts say.

But now, a major breakthrough could mean patients could sleep through the huge operation – amid hopes it will encourage more people to get the treatment.

Researchers from the Bionics Institute in Melbourne have discovered a unique brain signal that could be used to guide the surgeon during deep brain stimulation surgery, making it more accurate and effective.

The experts studied the brainwaves of 19 patients during surgery – 14 with Parkinson’s disease and five with a condition called essential tremor. They discovered the brain signal could now mean patients could be put to sleep during surgery.

Deep brain stimulation can help some sufferers by reducing their tremors and other symptoms. It involves surgeons inserting electrodes to stimulate a tiny part of the brain- the size of a grain of rice. 

Implanting the electrodes can be challenging, as placing them even a millimetre off target could reduce their effectiveness, or cause other side effects.

Read more: Parkinson’s cases to ‘double by 2050’ as society continues to age

“Deep brain stimulation can dramatically improve the quality of life for people living with Parkinson’s disease as it alleviates its three major debilitating symptoms: tremors, stiffness and slowed movement,” author Hugh McDermott says.

Now, clinician Wesley Thevathasan hopes the findings will help surgeons perform the operation more quickly and efficiently.

“The prospect of being able to have the procedure whilst asleep and having a specific homing signal to improve the accuracy of electrode placement is vitally important,” he said, admitting that many patients can be put off by having to remain awake.

One patient, Grant Rowe, spoke about his own experience having the surgery while awake, in a chat with the Bionics Institute team. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease ten years ago, and values continued research into treatments and an eventual cure.

“It’s a surreal experience being awake for surgery, cracking jokes with your doctor while he’s digging around in your head. But I can now tell my friends that my own brainwaves are advancing science,” he said.

“It’s made such a difference to my daily life – I’m human again. I can put sugar in my cup of tea without spilling it, and my mum says she can now hug me without it feeling like she’s hugging a statue.”

An estimated 80,000 Australians are living with Parkinson’s disease, while the average age at which people are diagnosed is around 65 years.

It occurs when nerves in the middle of the brain progressively degenerate, and affects a person’s control of their body movements. The symptoms include tremors or shaking, muscle stiffness or rigidity, slower movement, stooped posture and balance problems.

It is one of the world’s fastest growing neurological disorders, and while the number of cases has doubled in the last 25 years – it’s expected to do the same again by 2050, or even earlier. In fact, according to HelloCare, while globally there were around 6.9million cases of Parkinson’s in November last year, that number could increase to 14.2 million by 2040.

Do you, or anyone you know, suffer from Parkinson’s? Would being asleep during brain surgery encourage you to have it more than being awake?