Parkinson's device battery reduces surgeries

A new long-life battery in a medical devicewill save a Nova Scotia man up to 30 surgeries over the course of his lifetime.

Duncan MacEachern, 40, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease two years ago.

"I wish we didn't have it, mind you, but we do and we deal with it," the Baddeck man said Wednesday. "My family goes through as much or more than I do at times."

There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease, but the symptoms are usually treated with medication.

Anothertreatment is to implant a neurostimulator, or "brain pacemaker," into the patient's chest. It iswired to the brain via the neck and uses deep-brain stimulation tohelp control the shaking that can accompany the disease.

The batteries in the devices typically last for a year, meaningthey must be replaced with surgery every 12 months.

"You know, surgery, no matter what it is, is scary, because you never know the outcome," said his wife, Andrea.

But MacEachern's device uses a battery that lasts for nine years.

That means he won't need to have it surgically replaced every year, saving him and his family the stress of up to 30 operations and cutting the cost of treating his condition.

Weekly recharging

The device needs to be recharged once a week, so MacEachern plugs himself in every seven days.

"On Saturdays, [I] have a couple of beers with the boys and on Mondays you recharge," he said.

MacEachernbecame the first person in Canada to use the long-life battery when Dr. Ivar Mendez of Halifax's QEII Health Science Centre implanted the device in April 2009.

It has since been used in seven other people.

"He had been extremely affected by the disease. It interfered tremendously with his quality of life," said Mendez. "[Now] we won't need to do any surgery until 2019."

"I've been pretty lucky," MacEachern said.

Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative disease, according to the Parkinsons Society of Canada.

Body movement is normally controlled by dopamine, a chemical that carries signals between the nerves in the brain. When cells that normally produce dopamine die, the symptoms of Parkinson's appear.

There is currently no cure, but people can live with Parkinson's for years.