April is Parkinson ’s Disease Awareness Month. For some who suffer from the tremors associated with Parkinson’s, Deep Brain Stimulation surgery (DBS) may offer life-changing benefits.

DBS has proven to significantly reduce the tremors of those who suffer from movement disorders. The surgery involves drilling a hole slightly smaller than a nickel into the skull. Electrodes attached to fine wires are inserted in the brain and the wires are attached to a small stimulator, which controls the electrical impulses to the brain that help reduce the tremors.

SIU neurosurgeon Dr. Jeffrey Cozzens has performed more than 350 DBS surgeries, most recently at St. John’s Hospital with SIU’s neurology team. For more than 30 years, Dr. Cozzens has studied diseases of the brain and spine and has a special affinity for DBS. “These are the happiest patients I have. They’re thrilled to get their lives back,” Dr. Cozzens says. “They’re able to do things that they couldn’t do before.”

According to Dr. Cozzens, approximately 80-90% of DBS patients notice some improvement in their symptoms, and about 70-80% notice great improvement. Some of the improvement is noticed quickly, while other improvements can be gradual. Fine-tuning the dosage of medication and the impulses of the stimulator can take some time.

The risks of DBS — stroke, brain damage or infection — are rare; and according to Dr. Cozzens, even those who get an infection often want to have the surgery again. The results are that significant.

The physicians caution that DBS does not cure Parkinson disease. “If you stop the symptoms, people do pretty well,” says Dr. Cozzens. “But the disease can still progress.”

To read more about DBS and how the surgery helped some patients, visit Aspects 35-1.