It depends on what you want from the surgery and who your team of medical specialists are. I had DBS last October, and it helped me tremendously. I had tremors really severely, though, and it fixed that symptom completely. I know two others who had DBS years ago, and they have had similar, wonderful results. No observable or reported side-effects, either. But it matters a lot who your neurologist, neurosurgeon, and programmer are. See a team that works together often and that has done a lot of DBS.

I had Asleep DBS surgery done by Dr. Wu at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA five weeks ago. The DBS pulse generator was turned on two weeks later. Since then the results have been fantastic. I take 1/2 of a Carbidopa-Levodopa 25-250 two or three times a day. All of my PD symptoms have gone away. Prior to the surgery, I was taking pills every 3 hours and at night time too. I couldn't talk, shanking was controlled during the ON period when the pills were working but the transition between ON to OFF to ON was very difficult. My quality of life was going down hill rapidly. Since the Asleep DBS surgery, I am doing great. Dr Wu at Jefferson has a super team of care givers supporting him. He is the only Neurosurgeon in the Philadelphia area that does Asleep DBS surgery.

I've read about the Next Generation of DBS, which eliminates the need to implant physical electrodes into ones brain..... Instead they have a "micro size Chip" that get implanted just under the skin on both side of your head, just above your ears... It then helps control the brain by sending "Radio Waves" in a similar fashion as the original DBS has succeed in doing. But without the risk of delicate brain surgery, and possible infection port between the electrode and ones skull & tissue. Something to consider... Alan

I am 52 and have had PD for 13 years.
My symptoms were quite mild and I wasn't on much medication due to the side effects. But I was struggling in lots of ways.
I went for DBS assessment and was deemed a candidate. I also went through the questions of why should I do it. I'm so young.
Well.... I made the decision that what were my options - let this illness take over my body or try beat it for as long as I can.
What a decision. Life changing. I didn't realise how bad I was and how the illness had impacted on my life until after the surgery.
Si I can't stress highly enough - no matter what age u r don't wait until you are sooo bad. This surgery can change your life.
If you weigh the pros and cons it's a real no brainier!!

Hi @A MyParkinsonsTeam Member

Here is the Foundation's website overview ...... Alan

http://www.fusfoundation.org/the-technology/ove...

Focused Ultrasound Treatment Overview

Focused ultrasound is an early-stage, non-invasive therapeutic technology with the potential to transform the treatment of many medical disorders by using ultrasonic energy to target tissue deep in the body without incisions or radiation.

Focused ultrasound is the marriage of two innovative technologies:
focused ultrasound—which provides the energy to treat tissue deep in the body precisely and noninvasively, and magnetic resonance or ultrasound imaging—which is used to identify and target the tissue to be treated, guide and control the treatment in real time, and confirm the effectiveness of the treatment.

The fundamental principle is analogous to using a magnifying glass to focus beams of sunlight on a single point to burn a hole in a leaf. With focused ultrasound, an acoustic lens is used to concentrate multiple intersecting beams of ultrasound on a target deep in the body with extreme precision and accuracy. Depending on the design of the lens and the ultrasound parameters, the target can be as small as 1x1.5mm or as large as 10x16mm in diameter.

Where each of the individual beams passes through the tissue, there is no effect. But, at the focal point, the convergence of the multiple beams of focused ultrasound energy results in many important biological effects, creating the possibility of treating a variety of medical disorders. Read more about the mechanisms of actions.

Focused ultrasound treatments can be performed on an outpatient basis, require no incisions, and can result in minimal discomfort and few complications, allowing for rapid recovery.

Watch this Video >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=272TzaUXg_U

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