DBS, surgery cut medication for Parkinson’s, epilepsy

Neuro doctors bared that medication for Parkinson’s Disease can be substantially reduced and weaned out from epilepsy patients during a seminar of the two neurological conditions at the Tzu Chi Eye Center (TCEC) in Sta. Mesa, Manila last 22 March.

Cardinal Santos Medical Center’s (CSMC) Brain and Spine Institute chairman and Philippine Gamma Knife Center clinical director Dr. Theodor Vesagas, who lectured on the incurable Parkinson’s Disease, said significant strides have been made in managing it and improving the quality of life for patients.

At the CSMC, for example, Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), a surgical therapy to address the movement symptoms of Parkinson’s, is helping decrease patients’ reliance on medications by 50 percent, according to Vesagas.

“Getting sick is always something very life-changing. But the doctors are here to help,” Vesagas told the nearly 100 seminar attendees.

Meanwhile, CSMC’s Epilepsy Surgery Center clinical director Dr. Karen Mabilangan said that 70 percent of successful epilepsy surgeries allow patients to “graduate” from medical management after two years.

“Most of the patients will have seizure-freedom and sudden death from epilepsy can be prevented,” she added, according to a post on the Facebook page of Tzu Chi Medical Foundation Philippines (TCMFP), which run the TCEC.

Mabilangan also assured participants that epilepsy patients can find help for their treatment in the Philippines.

“The organization of neurologists in the Philippines who help patients with epilepsy, or the Philippine League Against Epilepsy, has a vast network of members and we are all working together,” she said. “They just need to find an office of any neurologist then we can discuss with them the options for epilepsy treatment.”

The lecture dubbed “Illuminating the Pathways: A Seminar on Parkinson’s Disease and Epilepsy Care” was the second health education forum that TCMFP and CSMC conducted this year.

CSMC assistant chief medical officer Dr. Michael Louis Gimenez said the Cardinal Medical Charities Foundation and TCMFP have a common advocacy of educating patients on various medical conditions and both entities will continue partnering in holding seminars that will provide valuable insights into the prevalence and impact of epilepsy and Parkinson’s Diseasse in the country.

Attendees actively participated in the discussion, asking questions to better understand how to properly address these health concerns.