A movement disorder means that there is abnormal movement or positioning of part of the body due to the nervous system not working properly or an underlying neurological disease. Our team of neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, and clinical nurse specialists work to provide excellent clinical care to hundreds of patients per year with various movement disorders.
What are the common types of movement disorders?
How do you treat movement disorders?
UHealth offers various treatment options for patients living with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, hand tremor (shaking hands), and dystonia. Patients with an inadequate response to medications are evaluated in depth by our team of neurologists and neurosurgeons to determine if a noninvasive procedure, electrical stimulation treatments, or traditional surgery is recommended for the best outcomes and symptom relief.
Focused Ultrasound (FUS), also known as MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound, is a non-surgical, noninvasive treatment that uses focused sound waves to destroy targeted tissue without affecting surrounding areas of the brain. For many patients, this safe, incision-free alternative to traditional surgery provides immediate relief from tremors caused by some movement and neurological disorders. FUS delivers high-frequency ultrasound energy to a precise location in the brain (ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus), an area responsible for tremor. The energy converges to create heat, forming a small ablation that disrupts tremor pathways.
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a surgical option appropriate for some people with Parkinson’s disease. This treatment involves implanting a pacemaker-like device under the skin in the chest as well as electrodes deep within the brain to deliver ongoing, painless electrical pulses. The electrodes are precisely placed in the brain with MRI-based targeting and detailed electrical mapping. The electrical stimulation delivered by the implants can offer patients relief from tremors, rigidity, slowness of movement, and stiffness. These symptoms can be improved as the disease progresses, without any irreversible effects on the brain.
Traditional surgery: Other techniques for treating the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include thalamotomy and pallidotomy surgeries, which irreversibly destroy cells in the brain using an electrode to control tremor and involuntary, repetitive movements.
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