Staff Writer

Parkinson's disease affects approximately one in 100 people over age 60, including an estimated one million people in the United States and six million people worldwide. A degenerative neurological disorder, it can shatter patients' physical and emotional well-being.

But thanks to continuing medical advances, doctors have more tools to tailor treatment plans and provide patients their best chance of maintaining independence.

It's a subject that Valir Rehabilitation Hospital in Oklahoma City knows well; it received its Parkinson's accreditation two years ago.

"The accreditation shows that we've gone to the effort to show that we understand what Parkinson's means to patients and their families, and that we have gained knowledge toward that end to improve their situation as much as possible," said Sharon Heuppelheuser, RN.

To receive the accreditation, staff members took a course that included watching videos and answering questions. Having the accreditation tells families, and physicians, that the hospital has put in the work required to specialize in caring for Parkinson's patients, Heuppelheuser said.

Caring for Parkinson's patients requires balancing medications and therapy, to maximize the benefit patients receive from both.

"Their medications are important, as to their being able to be functional as much as possible," Heuppelheuser said. "The therapist is able to work with them toward getting strength and endurance, work on their fine motor skills, and their medications given at an appropriate time so that when the therapist works with them, they're on their on time rather than their off time."

Medications and treatment options are continually evolving, providing doctors a wider variety to work with--and a better chance of specializing treatment plans for individual patients.

One of the most significant developments is deep-brain stimulation, which uses a pacemaker-like device to send electrical pulses to specific parts of the brain, in order to block the impulses that causes tremors.

"The goal is for the implant to replace the medications so that they can be more functional," Heuppelheuser said.

"Some patients still need medication, for the most part, but it maybe helps decrease the amount of medications, and the number of various medications to do the same job."

Valir sees several patients with deep-brain stimulators, because patients fare better in a rehab setting, Heuppelheuser said.

"It's much easier for them to be in a controlled environment so that their stimulators can be adjusted and fine-tuned, so that they have the best result," she said. "It's hard to do it in the office, because they have to be there so many hours for it, and it takes time to see how the adjustments affect the patient, as far as being functional, and the other side of that is so the therapist can still work with them to gain them more movement, and ability, and balance."

At Valir, treating Parkinson's isn't just about administering medication or providing physical therapy; it's about helping patients live a full life.

"We work very hard at trying to get the patient the best outcome with the stay that they have, so that they can have more confidence in their abilities, and be safe," she said.