With more awareness of this ailment, parkinson disease research has made many advances over the past two decades. Current data indicates that in the USA there are close to 1.3 million individuals who have Parkinsons disease (PD) and about 50,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. It is expected that these numbers are going to increase as the numbers of elder individuals also increases. Unfortunately, there is no cure for PD. However, as the symptoms advance, various different treatment approaches can be selected.
When medications fail to improve Parkinsons disease, surgery is an option. In general, surgery is reserved for the severely affected PD patients. Many new surgical procedures exist to treat PD. However, the type of surgical treatment varies from center to center and expertise of the surgeon.
Ablation essentially means a therapy to destroy a target in the brain. In PD, the area of the brain that generates abnormal chemicals or electrical activity that generates the abnormal movements is destroyed with ablation. This therapy is seldom done today because of the availability of deep brain stimulation which is much safer and more effective.
Deep brain stimulation requires implantation of electrodes in the deep parts of the brain. The electrodes are then connected to a pacemaker which is then placed underneath the skin somewhere in the chest area. The pacemaker, when turned on, decreases the tremor and stabilizes the effect of medications. Unfortunately, only individuals who have previously responded to l-dopa benefit from deep brain stimulation.
Pallidotomy is a very delicate surgical procedure that targets a specific area of the brain to control certain symptoms in patients with PD. A very fine sensing probe is used to identify the abnormal electrical activity and then another electrode delivers small electrical shocks to destroy these irregular electrical signals. The patient is awake during surgery and feels no pain but can localize the area of treatment. The results of Pallidotomy are immediate.
Parkinsons disease research has led to the development of stem cell transplants. Transplantation of dopamine producing tissue or cells has been performed in a few patients. The transplanted cells have been derived from the fetus or stem cells. This type of surgery has shown to be promisory in animals and is considered experimental at the moment. The biggest technical challenge in parkinsons research is how to guide these stem cells to selected parts of the brain safefly and ensuring that their growth is normal.
There are many centers in the USA which conduct parkinsons research and offer state of the art treatment for PD patients. In Arizona there is the Barrow Neurological Institute. In Los Angeles, there is the Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorder Center affiliated with University of Southern California. At the University of Florida there is the Parkinson Disease center in Gainesville and one in Miami. Other famous programs which offer excellent treatment include Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School. Other Centers of excellence where there is active parkinson disease research include Baylor College of Medicine and Booth Garner Parkinson center in Kirkland,  Washington.