Deep brain stimulation improves Parkinson’s symptoms, study finds

Deep brain stimulation has been shown to ease symptoms and improve quality of life for people with Parkinson’s, with benefits lasting five years, a major US study has found.

The trial, conducted across 23 movement disorder centres, was the largest prospective long-term study of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s disease.

Nearly 200 patients received DBS implants – electrodes placed in the brain that deliver electrical pulses which can be adjusted over time. Researchers from University of Florida Health were among those leading the study.

Patients were split into two groups: one received immediate stimulation, while the other had inactive devices for the first 12 weeks.

After that, all participants received active stimulation and were monitored for five years, with 137 completing the study.

Adolfo Ramirez-Zamora is neurology professor and division chief of movement disorders at the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health.

The researcher said: “This is one of the very few randomised, prospective trials of deep brain stimulation with long-term follow-up.

“For the first time, we can clearly see that the benefits of DBS – improvements in motor symptoms, reduced medication needs and better quality of life – are sustained at five years.”

Safety outcomes were also assessed, with infection the most common but still rare serious risk.

Ten patients died during the five-year follow-up, but none of the deaths were linked to DBS.

The results add to evidence that DBS is safe and effective when carried out at experienced centres, Ramirez-Zamora said, and should shift how the treatment is viewed.

He said: “DBS used to be seen as a last resort, but we now know it provides the most sustained benefit when offered in the moderate stages of Parkinson’s disease, when motor complications are the main source of disability.”

Ramirez-Zamora said the next step is to expand access to more patients.

Michael S. Okun, a professor and director of the Fixel Institute, has worked on DBS techniques at UF for more than 20 years, in collaboration with Kelly Foote, the institute’s co-director.

Okun said the findings also suggest how treatment may develop in the future.

He said: “The future of DBS will be about smarter devices, more personalised programming and broader access.

“Studies like this one not only prove the therapy’s durability but also set the stage for the next generation of technologies to improve patients’ lives.”