Electrical stimulation helps reduce side effects of Parkinson's for 2 men

Two men were brought together by a lifesaving procedure at UF Health Jacksonville. They both had one last option and through a thin wire implanted in their brains to deliver electrical stimulation, they both gained a sense of their life back.

This electrical stimulation reversed the side effects of their debilitating diseases.

Bill Elias and John Clemens share an undeniable connection: a second chance at life.

"I would hold a glass and it was three-quarters full I'd spill it and it would flop out of the glass," Elias said.

Years of unanswered questions, tests and a fear of losing his passion for preaching.

"The shaking was bad enough that it was bothering people," Elias said.

Elias was diagnosed with essential tremors and given a medical miracle. At the same time, Clemens was fighting the same fight to not lose his quality of life.

"It seemed so hard when I'd take a guitar and grab the neck of it and play it," Clemens said.

Clemens was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2002. He had trouble breathing and forced to give up his passion for music.

“To not be able to do it, I felt a loss, a big loss," Clemens said.

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Neurosurgeons performed a procedure called deep brain stimulation. Dr. Daryoush Tavanaiepour, a neurosurgeon at UF Health Jacksonville, performed the multi-phase operation in which a thin wire, an electrode, was implanted in the brain to deliver electrical stimulation to targeted areas, blocking abnormal nerve signals that cause the symptoms.

A neurostimulator is implanted under the skin near the collarbone. A neurosurgeon uses the neurostimulator to adjust the amount of electrical stimulation through the use of a remote control. The electrode and neurostimulator are connected via an insulated extension wire that was implanted under the skin of the patient’s head, neck and shoulder.

The device resembles a cardiac pacemaker. An incision is made in the skull and this wire lays underneath the skin and this device helps stimulate targeted blocking signals.

"It really gave me hope the hope of victory,” Clemens said.

Tavanaiepour is the man these patients credit for their success.

“God has given this man a tremendous ability that only God can give so that he can be able to probe my brain in such a way that I don't shake anymore," Elias said.

Cox Media Group