TPS-Therapy for Parkinson's disease

Parkinson’s disease is one of the most common diseases of the nervous system, alongside Alzheimer’s dementia, other forms of dementia and strokes. Parkinson’s also causes nerve cells in the brain to die at a disproportionately high rate. Around 400,000 people in Germany are affected by the so-called shaking disease, with 10% of patients still under the age of 40 when diagnosed. The first clear symptoms usually appear between the ages of 50 and 60. Parkinson’s disease is therefore not just a disease of old age, but can also affect younger people. Hollywood actor Michael J. Fox, for example, was only 29 years old when he was diagnosed. Today, he is over 60 years old and is intensively involved in Parkinson’s research with unbroken optimism.

The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease vary from person to person. On a physical level, it can lead to so-called akinesia, i.e. loss of movement, making it increasingly difficult to move, especially in the legs and arms. Patients are often only able to walk with a small, shuffling step. Other symptoms include rigor, a stiffening of the muscles, and tremor, i.e. trembling of the hands. Other symptoms include anxiety, depression and insomnia. The development of the symptoms of the disease can vary greatly and the time between the first signs and the onset of Parkinson’s can be years.

Transcranial pulse stimulation as a treatment option for Parkinson’s disease

The current standard drug treatment for Parkinson’s patients provides only minimal and short-term relief of symptoms. As a result, most patients experience only limited benefits, especially as treatment responses vary greatly.

As part of decades of research into shockwaves for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, transcranial pulse stimulation has been used in clinical settings for more than 15 years for Parkinson’s disease, with great success. Clinical data shows that patients can lead a life for many years with significantly reduced symptoms and in some cases virtually symptom-free thanks to TPS.

TPS for Parkinson’s – still an “off-label” therapy

Transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) for Parkinson’s disease is still an “off-label therapy”, as no individual approval has yet been applied for Parkinson’s (approvals take years and cost huge sums of money). An “off-label” treatment is an “individual therapeutic trial”, i.e. the use of a drug or therapeutic procedure in an individual case, which the doctor decides on his or her own initiative and with the patient’s consent within the scope of therapeutic freedom. A therapeutic trial is appropriate if all other treatment options have been exhausted and if scientific evidence suggests a benefit for the patient concerned.

Large placebo-controlled trials of TPS in Parkinson’s disease are underway, but as with all trials, it will be several years before they are completed. Then, however, there will certainly be another single-indication approval for the use of TPS in Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s treatment with TPS in our practices: a sensible and effective therapy option

We have been treating Parkinson’s patients with varying degrees of severity and different main symptoms with transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) for almost two years now. Almost all patients benefit from the therapy, as a recent study by the University of Vienna has shown (see: show study (external site)) – both in terms of physical limitations and mental health: many patients report a reduction in anxiety and restlessness, improved sleep and a reduction in the inner restlessness that often accompanies Parkinson’s disease.