A major advance in mitigating the impacts of Parkinson’s disease made by Franco-Swiss researchers

This is a major breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease: a team of French and Swiss scientists and surgeons have developed a neuroprosthesis which has allowed a patient to regain all his ability to walk. Their discovery was published Monday, November 6 in the journal Nature Medicine.

Effects on paraplegic patients

Scientists and surgeons first succeeded in making a paraplegic walk. Professor Grégoire Courtine describes what we see on a video: a man in a wheelchair gets up and starts walking. “It’s far from being a cure. It’s a bit of a robotic movement, but normally he can’t walk at all“, explains the scientist.

The idea is to directly stimulate the spinal cord by implanting electrodes there, because it is this which activates the leg muscles. If this technique works on paraplegic patients, researchers at Lausanne University Hospital believe that it can also have effects for Parkinson’s patients. Because at an advanced stage of the disease, almost everyone experiences difficulty walking.

Tests on six new Parkinson’s patients

Marc has had Parkinson’s for 27 years. It’s been a year since the Bordeaux resident tested the device, which connects electrodes above his spinal cord to a pacemaker in his stomach. He turns it on in the morning when he gets up and turns it off when he sits or sleeps. The electrical impulses stimulate his muscles and adapt to his movements. Marc specifies that before that, he could hardly walk without falling or getting stuck in front of obstacles.

It’s not something miraculous, but it brings incredible well-being. When I saw myself again two years ago, I was completely stuck. Now it’s going very well!

Marc, suffering from Parkinson’s disease

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The Franco-Swiss team of researchers will include six new patients in a clinical trial next year. If the results prove conclusive, we will still have to wait several years before finding this neuroprosthesis on the market.