A Prisoner Helps Humanity, and Thereby, Himself

A heroin addict, who received a bad batch of heroin, lay in a prison bed, with tremors so violent, he had to be restrained. The same tremors affect those with Parkinson’s disease.

Today, thanks to deep brain stimulation, this junkie remains in jail, but his tremors are stilled. That was almost 25 centuries ago, and thanks to this human guinea pig, deep brain stimulation is now used as a practice standard with many Parkinson’s patients who exhibit tremors which inhibit their activities of daily living. In the past few years alone, it has been used on almost 20,000 patients.

With our heroin addict, Govea, the by-product of heroin or MPTP had eaten away at the s nigra of his brain. The same thing occurs with Parkinson patients. The doctors who finally diagnosed Govea had seen the same symptoms with others who had taken MPTP; so while they had no knowledge of the heroin Govea took, they did know about its by-products and published their findings in “Science”.

This opened the window of opportunity for all those who suffered from the tremors of Parkinson’s forever. In the interim, Govea continued to suffer to the point where he could not go to the bathroom, eat, or perform any other activity of daily living. Levodopa (a common medication given to patient’s with Parkinson’s disease, was given to Govea. Almost immediately, the symptoms stopped. However, typical side effects of delusions and hallucinations started.

Ultimately, Govea had another long term side effect of Levo-Dopa, which was dyskinesias, or jerking and swaying motions which were so bad at times, it threatened to cut off his breathing.

Govea pleaded for death. The prison’s medical staff offered him a new procedure which was experimental in 2001: deep mind stimulation. Govea accepted. Anything to relieve his misery.

“A small hole was drilled in his skull, and an electrical wire -- about the thickness of a strand of spaghetti -- was inserted into a small area called the subthalamic nucleus, part of the complex basal-ganglia system associated with steady muscle control. The wire was then connected to a battery pack, which generates a pulsing electrical current. Doctors implanted the battery in his abdomen in a separate operation. The procedure is similar today, except the battery is now placed under the collar bone."

Currently, deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical procedure used to treat a variety of disabling neurological symptoms—most commonly the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), such as tremor, rigidity, stiffness, slowed movement, and walking problems. The procedure is also used to treat essential tremor, a common neurological movement disorder. Deep brain stimulation does not damage healthy tissues. At present, the procedure is used only for patients whose symptoms cannot be adequately controlled with medications.

In Govea’s case, his symptoms stopped almost immediately. No one knows quite how this mechanism works. Perhaps it acts like a ‘jamming’ device for neurons that are no longer firing correctly. And, although Govea is not free from prison, he is free from his symptoms. Govea benefitted from the treatment that he had initially made possible when the MTPT-symptoms were first discovered.

We have much to thank Govea for, and he has much to be thankful for also.

Source

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/deep_brain_stimulation/deep_brain_stimulation.htm