Parkinson's disease treatment in hospitals of Israel

Parkinson's disease is a common brain disease among patients after 50 years. It is accompanied by tremor of the limbs, head, and sometimes the whole body, muscle stiffness, impaired facial expressions and mental disorders. More than 7 million patients in the world have such a diagnosis. Parkinson's disease is difficult to treat. To overcome tremor and other symptoms, many patients go to Israel, since this country has a fairly high level of medicine that can cope even with the most severe brain diseases at low costs.

What is the process of Parkinson's disease treatment in Israel?

As a rule, the disease is treated initially with symptomatic drugs. There are 6 groups of antiparkinsonian drugs that have proven effectiveness in the clinical research. They relieve tremor and other symptoms. Additionally, doctors can use physiotherapy, exercises, psychosocial rehabilitation. These measures improve the quality of life and slow down brain degeneration.

Most patients with Parkinson's disease come to Israel for operations or procedures that cause a significant and lasting improvement in their condition. The neurosurgical methods are used in patients with symptom progression, resistance to drug therapy, or with severe side effects.

Doctors in Israel use the following treatments in patients with Parkinson's disease:

• Deep brain stimulation
• Destructive operations
• High-intensity focused ultrasound

Patients with Parkinson's disease undergo a thorough diagnostic examination. Not all of them are candidates for neurosurgical treatment, but if the diagnostic results predict a good outcome, then such methods can be used.

Deep brain stimulation

Patients with severe forms of Parkinson's disease usually undergo deep brain stimulation. The technique requires two operations.

The first stage of treatment involves a neurosurgical intervention. A doctor inserts two thin electrodes into the brain through a small hole in the skull. A week later, a doctor performs a second surgical procedure. A pulse generator is implanted under the skin of the chest. It is connected to the electrodes.

In 2-4 weeks, the initial setup of the stimulation device is carried out. A doctor sets the program, and then adjusts it. It may take several weeks to select the optimal operating mode of the device. The battery can serve for about 5 years. Then it will be changed during the repeated surgical procedure.

Deep brain stimulation does not cure the disease completely, but it can relieve symptoms, lower drugs requirement, improve the quality of life and an emotional state. Patients should undergo medical examination periodically. The procedure is reversible, but the stimulation can be stopped, if necessary.

Destructive operations

In Israel, destructive operations are performed using stereotactic surgery. These are mainly pallidotomy and thalamotomy. In recent years, such treatment methods in patients with Parkinson's disease have been used less and less. Their essence is the destruction of certain parts of the brain that are responsible for the onset of symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Treatment using focused ultrasound under the MRI guidance

This is a new treatment method that is not yet used in all clinics. However, some hospitals in Israel already have sufficient experience with the procedure.

The essence of the method is that the pathological areas of the brain are targeted by focused ultrasound. It heats and destroys the target area, which generates pathological impulses. The procedure is performed under the MRI guidance, so doctors do not damage functionally significant areas of the brain.

The method is good, as it allows eliminating tremor without a surgery. A doctor does not need to perform incisions, and the patient does not need a long recovery.

What clinics can offer treatment?

Parkinson's disease cannot be completely cured, but you can get rid of most of the symptoms, including treatment for essential tremor, if you go to a good clinic. If you are planning a trip to Israel, you can visit one of these medical facilities.

• Rambam Health Care Campus. The clinic begins treatment of Parkinson's disease with the prescription of drugs that suppress tremor and eliminate other symptoms. If this does not work or causes severe side effects, deep brain stimulation is used. Dr. Ilana Schlesinger, who is considered one of the best specialists in deep brain stimulation in the country, is responsible for selecting patients for surgery and setting up a neurostimulator. In recent years, the Rambam Health Care Campus has begun using a new treatment for Parkinson's disease – focused ultrasound, under the MRI guidance. They provide the ablation of target areas of the brain that transmit pathological impulses. The FUS (MRI-guided focused ultrasound) procedure may be an alternative to neurosurgery for many patients.
• Sourasky Medical Center. It has one of the best Departments of Neurosurgery in the country. The surgical treatment of Parkinson's disease is performed using destructive operations. The clinic also uses deep brain stimulation.
• Assuta Hospital. It uses the very latest methods for Parkinson's disease treatment. These include stereotactic radiosurgery, transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation, high-intensity focused ultrasound.
• Sheba Medical Center. The clinic uses the full scope of necessary treatment. At the early stages of the disease, it is often enough to use drugs to relieve tremor, while in the case of severe symptoms doctors have to resort to more invasive procedures and operations. The clinic widely uses the FUS (focused ultrasound) method. The method is approved by the FDA, gives quick results and does not require performing incisions. The effectiveness of the procedure at the Sheba Medical Center reaches 92%.
• Hadassah Medical Center. Zvi Israel, a neurosurgeon at the Hadassah Medical Center, was the first in this country to perform deep brain stimulation in 2003. Since then, this hospital has remained a leader in the effectiveness of using this method. To implant an electrode in the brain effectively, doctors use three-dimensional imaging systems and multi-channel systems for recording electrical impulses of the brain. The hospital also uses other methods of surgical treatment of Parkinson's disease, namely thalamotomy and pallidotomy. The use of stem cells is being researched.

Benefits of treatment in Israel

In Israel, you can get the best treatment of Parkinson's disease with minimal health risks. The country offers not very high prices when compared with the cost of similar medical services in developed Western countries, but the clinics in Israel are not inferior in terms of medicine.

Here are the main benefits of Parkinson's disease treatment in Israel:

• Well-equipped hospitals
• Availability of the very latest treatment methods, including deep brain stimulation and the use of focused ultrasound
• High-precision diagnostics allows doctors to ideally select patients for a particular procedure, predicting the effectiveness of the treatment
• Intraoperative diagnostics reduces the risk of damage to functionally important areas of the brain to zero
• Low cost of medical services
• Quality postoperative care and rehabilitation

Where to seek help from?

To undergo treatment of Parkinson's disease in one of the clinics in Israel, please, use the Booking Health service. Our portal offers a convenient search system for a medical program. You can compare the cost of procedures in different clinics and book treatment at a favourable price. Booking Health specialists will arrange your treatment in Israel. We offer the following services and benefits:

• Search and selection of the hospital in Israel that specializes in Parkinson's disease treatment
• Possibility of treatment in Israel on the most suitable for you dates
• Reduced cost of treatment – the prices for medical services are reduced due to avoiding additional coefficients for foreign patients
• Direct communication with the doctor
• Preparation of a medical program without the need to repeat the previously performed diagnostic tests in Israel
• Buying and forwarding medicines
• Communication with the hospital in Israel after the completion of the medical program
• Organization of additional diagnostics, treatment in Israel or rehabilitation

Booking Health specialists provide high-quality services. We will book a hotel and airline tickets for you, meet you at the airport and take you to the hospital by car.