The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is inaugurating a dedicated Parkinson’s Clinic from April 16 to help patients in advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease, doctors from the hospital said on Thursday.
Doctors from AIIMS said that the hospital has a movement disorder clinic, which also looks after patients with Parkinson’s disease. But this new clinic will focus on those who have reached the advanced stages of the disease.
The clinic will be headed by Dr Achal Kumar Srivastava, professor of Clinical Neurophysiology in the department of neurology, AIIMS.
“In the initial years of Parkinson’s disease, patients do very well with medicines but as time passes, the effect of medicines starts waning and after about eight-nine years nearly 80% of the patients face this. We call that motor fluctuation. At this time, we alter medication but that also does not last for very long,” said Dr Roopa Rajan, assistant professor, department of neurology, AIIMS.
Dr Rajan said that at this time, doctors offer a surgical procedure called deep brain stimulation, which is a surgical procedure that involves implanting electrodes in the brain, which deliver electrical impulses that block or change the abnormal activity that causes symptoms.
{{/usCountry}}Dr Rajan said that at this time, doctors offer a surgical procedure called deep brain stimulation, which is a surgical procedure that involves implanting electrodes in the brain, which deliver electrical impulses that block or change the abnormal activity that causes symptoms.
{{/usCountry}}“This is a standard procedure, but it requires detailed pre-operative and post-operative care. The patients need a psychologist, psychiatrist, movement expert etc., to give them the best results from the procedure. It is an exhaustive process and to provide this type of care we are starting this dedicated clinic,” she said.
Doctors said that this clinic will be a referral clinic, which will primarily have patients from AIIMS’ movement disorder clinic, but patients referred from other hospitals can also seek advanced care here. This will be a weekly clinic, open on Saturdays from 9am to 12pm, AIIMS administration confirmed.