Science & Medicine: Focused ultrasound quiets essential tremor when medication falls short
Essential tremor affects up to 10 million U.S. adults, and for about half of patients, medication doesn’t control the shaking. UT Health San Antonio neurosurgeon Dr. Alexander Papanastassiou explains how MRI-guided focused ultrasound uses heat to target the part of the brain causing the tremor, typically reducing it by 80%. UT Health San Antonio's Dr. Alexander Papanastassiou, director of Stereotactic, Functional and Epilepsy Neurosurgery at UT Health San Antonio, has revealed that up to 10 million adults in the US experience essential tremor, a movement disorder that causes rhythmic shaking in their hands and sometimes their head and voice. These symptoms can be disabling, affecting activities such as eating, drinking, and hygiene, such as brushing hair and teeth or getting dressed. For these patients, UT Health offers MRI-guided focused ultrasound, which uses heat created by heat to create a small lesion that disrupts the abnormal electrical activity causing the tremor. This technique typically reduces the tremonion by 80%. However, there is a balance between treatment effects and side effects, which can cause clumsiness or difficulty walking. The non-surgical procedure involves patients having their hair clipped close to the scalp, which is delivered with a specialized cap through which cold water is circulated.
게시됨 : 어제 ~에 의해 Bonnie Petrie ~에 Health
Up to 10 million adults in the United States experience a movement disorder called essential tremor, which causes rhythmic shaking in their hands and sometimes their head and voice. UT Health San Anto... [3313 symbols]
