Regenerative Brain Cell Therapy Procedure to Inhibit Hyperactivity

OHSU second in the country to perform regenerative brain cell therapy procedure

I work at the hospital this procedure will be performed at. I worked as an OR nurse for 18 years with the doctor quoted in this article. For over a decade of that I saw him improve and innovate DBS for Parkinson's patients.

I'm wondering if there's any potential indications this could help with overactivity in the brain related to tinnitus.

The quote that excites me is "the inhibitory nerve cells, called interneurons, are designed to quell hyperactivity in the focal point of the patient’s brain that causes seizures."

If this could quell hyperactivity in the part of the brain associated with tinnitus they may be on to something here. Something tells me nobody in research will ever look into this, but I hope they do.

 

I work as a pharmacist for another hospital (LEMC) that's in the same city as OHSU. I'm ever hopeful for any news coming from Portland regarding tinnitus. If they were to design some sort of experiment in the area, I'll be first in line to sign up!

 

I also live in Portland. I’ll be second in line to sign up!

 

Since you work at that hospital, is there any way you could inquire about possibilities for this procedure and tinnitus?

 

Is there any new information?

 

Not really. I know Dr. Burchiel well, but have not worked in the OR for three years now. I changed nursing jobs within OHSU to work in a quieter environment. Those OR rooms can be quite loud. I already know what he would say. This guy lives and breathes functional neurosurgery for Parkinson’s. I doubt implications for tinnitus have crossed his mind. I do remember an article I believe he co-authored that mentioned they’ve seen occasional tinnitus reduction as an unintentional side effect of DBS treatment for Parkinson’s. It may be on his radar. It sounds like this is in early stages as well. I think this is far from proven to work. OHSU had a tinnitus clinic that was shut down maybe five years ago. If that was still operating it might have been a good place to direct questions about this.

 

Thanks for the information. Sorry to hear you had to change jobs because of tinnitus. I wish some of these doctors knew the degree of distress caused by tinnitus. I understand that Parkinson's is a terrible disease and worthy of all the attention it can get, but if a treatment was found that could work for both conditions, why not investigate?