Moncton Hospital launches surgical treatment for Parkinson’s disease

Rob Herd was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease about eight years ago.

“It was strange for that because I was playing a lot of hockey and all of a sudden you would just fall,” he said. “All of a sudden I had no balance, no nothing.”

Originally from Ontario, the Salisbury, N.B., resident was eligible for deep brain stimulation, a treatment involving implanting a device that sends electrical impulses to specific areas of the brain.

“Once we implant those wires in, we send an electrical current and this electrical current we try to stop or stimulate some of the function in the brain that will help on the mobility and motor symptoms and will help also to reduce the medication for some patients,” explained Dr. Antonios El Helou, a neurosurgeon at the Moncton Hospital. 

Herd received the treatment two-and-a-half years ago at Toronto Western Hospital before moving to New Brunswick.

“The benefit for me for the DBS was that I was at a high dose of medication and it basically cut my medication in half or eliminated some of my medication,” said Herd. “Some people get better, they don’t have the peaks and the valley, I still have a bit of a peak and valley, so sometimes I can do everything and anything and other times I couldn’t move, that’s why I bring my wheelchair just in case.”

Dr. El Helou says deep brain stimulation has been used for at least two decades in Canada, but it was never available in New Brunswick until now.

On Monday, Horizon Health Network, the province and Friends of the Moncton Hospital Foundation announced the treatment would be coming to the Moncton Hospital for patients in both New Brunswick and P.E.I.

“Our first patient is already ready for that and we already have a lineup for the next year,” said Dr. El Helou.

The first case is scheduled for next week and Dr. El Helou says they have been approved for one case a month with hopes of expanding to two cases a month in the future.

In New Brunswick alone, more thhan 200 people are diagnosed with parkinsonism, including Parkinson’s disease, each year, according to Horizon Health Network.

“My father-in-law had Parkinson’s, so I wasn’t totally surprised to hear that there are a number of people with Parkinson’s and if we can help a number have that treatment here, it will be positive for many, many aspects,” said Health Minister Bruce Fitch.

He notes the plan is to only offer this treatment at the Moncton Hospital for the foreseeable future instead of trying to expand it into other hospitals in the province.

“A lot of it goes back to the clinicians, the doctors and each hospital sort of has it’s specialities,” he said.

In total, the Friends of the Moncton Hospital funded $250,000 for the cost of equipment and the Department of Health is providing $394,000 in operational funding each year.

Dr. El Helou says while it’s not a cure for Parkinson’s disease, the symptom treatment does have a response rate up to 80 per cent.

“It’s high-level standard of care. We didn’t have it here since it was started in Canada 20 years ago and we are 2024, so all New Brunswickers should have their best care,” he said. “We are starting with the Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor, our first start, then definitely we’re looking forward to expand – epilepsy, that would be the next project — but we also need to recruit some specific people to help us and later on once it’s settled, we’re going to start the psychiatric disorder program,” he said. 

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.