Possibility to delay the progress of "Alzheimer's disease" by putting a pacemaker in the brain and sending electrical stimulation

It is one of dementiaAlzheimer's diseaseIs a disease that causes deterioration of advanced judgment function and a change of personality, etc. by brain tissue atrophy. Symptoms are mainly seen in elderly people, and around 2025 when many of the baby-boomer generation became elderly peopleOne in five out of the elderly becomes a patient with dementia including Alzheimer's diseaseAn estimate that has been announced. Meanwhile, in the United States, an attempt to stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease by implanting a device that produces an electrical stimulus like "pacemaker" in the head of Alzheimer's disease patients and stimulating specific parts of the brain has been done We have achieved certain results.

'Brain pacemaker' could slow down Alzheimer's | Daily Mail Online
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5328917/Brain-pacemaker-slow-Alzheimers.html

Brain 'pacemaker' for Alzheimer's - BBC News
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-42857576

A woman, Mr. Lavonne Moore, who is a photographer with her husband, is one of Alzheimer's patients who actually have a pacemaker implanted in their heads. 85-year-old Mr. Lavonne was diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease a few years ago and gradually became in a state where everyday life does not remain, but when a hole was made in the skull and a treatment was carried out to attach the electric stimulation device and the electrode directly to the brain , The improvement of the symptoms was seen.


Before treatment, Mr. Lavonne was also difficult to live a normal life, but after installing the equipment, I returned to be able to make dishes as before and played piano which I liked on the piano It is said that it is also possible to do.

However, it is not necessarily that the progress of disease has stopped, but the progress is being delayed to the last, it is the present condition. Still, her husband Tom said, "Laconne suffers from Alzheimer's disease longer than anyone else I know, which may sound negative, but in fact the treatment is working correctly So, it is positive thing. " Mr. Lavonne said he did not hesitate to participate in the experiment and in that case to Tom, "If I do not want others to go through the way that I am going through, I will do anything. "

The treatment that Mr. Labonu is receiving is to improve symptoms by continuously sending appropriate electrical or magnetic stimulation to the part of the brain causing the malfunction "Deep brain stimulation therapy"Or" DBS ". So far, DBS has been proven in hundreds of thousands of patients with Parkinson's disease improvement, but this is the first time that verification will proceed as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.


Dr. Douglas Charre et al. At the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center believe that the targeted approach to the frontal lobe of the brain making decisions will help maintain patient independence for a long time. Mr. Lavonne has already embedded the device over 3 and a half years and it has been confirmed that it has the effect of actually stopping the progress of symptoms.

However, as a result of this result, we can not conclude that "it is effective for the progression of Alzheimer's disease". In addition to the other patients with Alzheimer's disease who received the same treatment as Mr. Labonu, there were only 3 survey results, and the effect was seen including Lavonu 2 There is also the fact that it was only people.

However, it is expected that further examination will show the possibility of effective Alzheimer's disease treatment. Professor Andre Rosano, a neurosurgical specialist who is conducting a similar DBS treatment experiment in Canada, said, "There is a longing for new treatments for Alzheimer's disease", and at the moment there is a need for Alzheimer's disease I will tell you the situation where treatment is expected. Dr. Carroll Routledge of U.S. Alzheimer 's Research Institute "Alzheimer' s Research UK" said, "In this study there is no comparison with dummy treatment and the value of further follow - up surveys on the benefits from the effect There is a need to have a thorough investigation of the full benefits and cost effectiveness of this treatment with larger trials. "