New treatment welcome news for Parkinson’s and stroke patients

Medicalxpress.com: 7/11/12.

The new treatment is promising news for people with speech and language disorders that result from diseases within the nervous system.

Professor Bruce Murdoch of the Centre for Neurogenic Communication Disorders Research within UQ’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences said preliminary trials of the new treatment were positive in the effective treatment of these speech and language disorders.

The research has found a new technology, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), can be used to stimulate the brain with a series of magnetic pulses delivered by a stimulating coil held over selected areas of the head.

Professor Murdoch said TMS featured a coil, shaped like a figure eight, that was held over the patient’s head to “switch on part of the brain” in Parkinson’s sufferers and “switch off” a different part in stroke victims.

“The non-invasive technology is proving very effective in treating long-term sufferers of stroke and Parkinson’s disease, where traditional therapy approaches have proven ineffective,” he said.

“The brain can heal itself much better than we thought it could.

“Based on these findings, TMS would appear to have the potential to revolutionise the treatment of brain-based speech and language disorders with improved outcomes and quality of life for sufferers of neurological disease.” Read More