[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12377-12378]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             VA AND NIH JOINT PARKINSON'S DISEASE RESEARCH

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, as chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs, I would like to take a moment to recognize the 
Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institutes of Health, 
NIH, for their research into an innovative surgery that has 
demonstrated success in improving the stability of muscle movement for 
veterans with Parkinson's disease. VA and NIH's joint research 
collaboration

[[Page 12378]]

regarding deep brain stimulation therapy has furthered the medical 
community's understanding of Parkinson's disease and will be incredibly 
valuable to doctors and Parkinson's patients throughout the world.
  For many individuals, medication alone is insufficient when it comes 
to dealing with neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease. VA 
and NIH conducted research into an alternative treatment option known 
as deep brain stimulation therapy to test the long-term outcomes of the 
treatment. Deep brain stimulation therapy is a surgical procedure that 
implants electrodes into specific stimulation sites within the brain. 
These electrodes are then able to send electrical pulses to areas of 
the brain that controls movement and motor control and helps mitigate 
the symptoms of Parkinson's disease as well as reduce some of the side 
effects caused by medication. Thanks to deep brain stimulation therapy, 
thousands of individuals suffering from Parkinson's disease have 
experienced a dramatic improvement in their quality of life.
  Since deep brain stimulation therapy was approved by the Food and 
Drug Administration, FDA, as a therapy for Parkinson's disease in the 
late 1990s, there has been an ongoing debate about which stimulation 
sites within the brain provide the best and most durable treatment 
outcomes and how long those results last. To better understand the role 
that stimulation sites play in deep brain stimulation therapy, VA and 
NIH conducted a 3-year clinical trial. The trial ultimately found that 
the benefits gained from deep brain stimulation therapy remained after 
3 years and the benefits from the surgery were not dependent by which 
stimulation site was selected for implantation.
  This is the type of research that is crucial to providing the care 
that our Nation's veterans need and deserve. Thanks to the hard work of 
VA and NIH researchers, the 40,000 veterans living with Parkinson's 
disease whom VA cares for along with Parkinson's patients across the 
world will be better equipped to make informed decisions about their 
treatment options.
  In closing, I commend VA and NIH for their efforts to combat a 
disease that affects so many of America's veterans.

                          ____________________