🧠 Tiny implant could turn back the clock for Parkinson's patients

A small implant can make life a lot easier for people with Parkinson's, reports the BBC.

In a trial at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, UK, 25 patients had a small battery implanted in the skull and then electrodes were pulled from the battery to the brain. The electrodes were then able to stimulate the neurons to function more normally, which significantly reduces the symptoms.

There are already implants that can alleviate the problems for Parkinson's patients, but current solutions place the battery in the chest, which requires major surgery. The new implant is the smallest available and the operation is less complicated.

So far, 25 patients have received the implant in a trial and the results are very promising. One of the patients, Tony Howells, believes that it was a fantastic change.

"Before the operation, I took a walk with my wife and only managed to reach 180 meters from the car. A year later, after the operation, we took another walk and this time we walked four kilometers and I could have gone even further", he says in a comment to the BBC.

The operation is best suited for those who do not also have memory problems. The majority of patients have just such problems, but about ten percent of those with Parkinson's could use the new implant.

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