Select a community
Parkinson's
Find out more about the PatientsLikeMe
Parkinson's Community
Home > Community Treatment Reports > Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Treatment Report
What is Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)?

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical treatment which stimulates the brain with mild electrical signals. The signals reorganize the brain's electrical impulses, causing improvements in symptoms in a number of conditions affecting the brain.

Reasons had & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons had # of patients Major Moderate Slight None Can’t tell # of patients evaluated by
Treat Parkinson's 67 17
Parkinson's Disease 10 4
Stiffness/Spasticity 8 1
Other 7 1
Dyskinesia 6 2
Mobility 2 1

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe
0 0%
Moderate
2 8%
Mild
5 21%
None
17 71%

Most commonly reported side effects

Sleeplessness
2 8%
neck/shoulder pain
2 8%
Weight gain
2 8%
Depression
2 8%
Swallowing problems
1 4%
hypomania
1 4%
  • Mild
  • Moderate
  • Severe

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always
20 83%
Usually
2 8%
Sometimes
0 0%
Never
2 8%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very
0 0%
Somewhat
2 8%
A little
7 29%
Not at all
15 63%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+
2 8%
$100-199
1 4%
$50-99
0 0%
$25-49
1 4%
< $25
7 29%

Report created on November 21, 2009.