Treatment of Parkinson disease in Turkey, Prices of Istanbul clinics 2024

Symptoms & Causes of Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative condition that can progressively damage the brain. A person with Parkinson's condition can go through many physical and psychological symptoms.

What are the main symptoms of Parkinson's Disease?

The main signs of the disease are:

• Resting tremor
• Movement disorders
• Stiffness
• Bradycardia
• Postural disorder

Although the disease mainly involves functions that control mobility, it often compromises emotional and psychiatric functions such as depression and dementia.

What are the Causes?

The death of neurons in a brain's part called substantia nigra is one of the main causes of Parkinson's disease. This results in a decrease in a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the brain.

Dopamine plays an important part in controlling the motion of the body. A decrease in dopamine levels is the cause of several symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

The factor that causes the loss of nerve cells is still unexplained. Most medical scientists believe that neuron degeneration is due to some genetic and environmental factors.

Diagnosis in Istanbul clinics

The diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is not an easy task to do. That's why it is carried out by a multidisciplinary team in Istanbul, Turkey. The neurologist formulates a hypothesis based on the clinical history and the evaluation of neurological symptoms and signs.

Magnetic resonance imaging, PET scan, a lumbar puncture, and myocardial scintigram serve as support for clinical diagnosis. The neurologist is in charge of deciding the kinds of tests that are required to detect the disease. For a correct diagnosis, the doctor must exclude other diseases that have the same signs and symptoms as Parkinson's disease.

Indeed, some conditions such as multiple sclerosis may have similar symptoms, including slowness of movement. The best neurologists in Turkey can determine the type of disease thanks to their skills and experience.

The new DaTscan diagnosis

A new functional imaging method, DaTscan, has recently appeared belonging to the field of nuclear medicine, capable of confirming or excluding the compromise of the dopaminergic system even at an early stage of the disease. This examination consists of injecting a specific tracer into a vein and then acquiring brain scans with SPECT devices. It will show altered dopamine levels in the basal ganglia in idiopathic Parkinson's and true parkinsonism, which will be normal in essential tremors and non-Parkinsonian slowing clinical conditions.

How to Cure Parkinson’s Disease in hospitals of Istanbul Turkey?

It is important to recognize that there is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease. Nevertheless, there are numerous types of treatment that make it possible to manage symptoms effectively for many years. The therapies allow the patient to lead a relatively normal life.

Thanks to neurologists, the patient can decide which therapy is the best option for his specific symptoms and needs. The best doctors in Istanbul Turkey and can provide you with pharmacological, surgical, and rehabilitative treatments. To manage the disease effectively, patients are often treated with different therapies.

The Pharmacological Treatment 

The neurologist treats this disorder by prescribing antiparkinsonian drugs such as dopamine agonists and levodopa. These drugs increase the level of dopamine reaching the brain or stimulate the brain areas where dopamine acts. The response to therapy is individual, so the doctor must prescribe adapted medicines to the specific needs of each patient.

As the disease progresses, patients may require higher dosages or different types of medications to keep the symptoms under control. However, this may lead to an increase in side effects such as:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Dizziness
• Psychosis
• Dyskinesia

When the therapy through medicines is no longer able to control effectively the symptoms, other therapies can be used.

Surgery in Hospitals and Clinics of Istanbul Turkey

Deep brain stimulation surgery is a safe, effective, adjustable, and reversible therapy. It involves the implantation of devices that allow the electrical stimulation of precise points of the brain. This surgery aims at modulating the signals that cause the disabling motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. 

Added to that, many of our medical facilities in Turkey offer gamma knife radiosurgery for deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease treatment. Radiosurgery with a gamma knife is known to be very safe since it does not involve surgical incisions.

Rehabilitative Treatment: Price & Cost

Rehabilitative therapy plays an increasingly important role in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It is proposed as a real treatmentthat is effective for:

• Motor recovery
• Balance
• Cognitive functions
• The improvement of the patient's quality of life

Doctors working with our clinics and hospitals treat the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system diseases at an affordable cost. These neurological disorders include diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, or other brain vascular diseases.