Side Effects From Parkinson’s ‘Pacemaker’

Electrodes implanted in the brain can help control Parkinson’s disease symptoms. But they also may lead to side effects, a study has found. The study included 255 people with advanced Parkinson’s disease. They were assigned to receive either the “brain pacemaker” or medicine alone. After 6 months, 7 out of 10 people in the pacemaker group could move better. That’s more than double the improvement in the medicine group. People with pacemakers gained about 5 hours a day of good quality movement. But 4 out of 10 had side effects, including falls with injuries. The study was in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Associated Press wrote about it January 7.