
A degenerative disease of the central nervous system, the disease is named after James Parkinson, the British doctor who published the first detailed description in 1817. It is most common in the elderly, with most cases occurring after the age of 50, and places a heavy burden on the care-giver, usually a spouse or close relative.
This year marked the 25th anniversary of the Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital and the 10th of its Parkinson's Treatment Centre, which has treated over 860 patients since it was established. Of them, more than 130 received a form of surgery known as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), accounting for over 30 per cent of the patients in Taiwan who have received such treatment. The hospital organized a large gathering: staff, patients and their families came together to celebrate the work of the center and give thanks for the treatment they have received. Over 90 per cent of them were able to walk into the gathering unaided; it was hard to imagine that they had the disease.

International recognition

From wheelchair to walking
The first person to receive the DBS treatment was Tseng Hsu-lung, now 56. He and his wife arranged the trip, they came to the hospital to thank the medical team who gave him a new life. In 1991, he started to tremble and lost power in his lower limbs. The initial diagnosis of the doctors was endocrine imbalance; he took drugs for two years but they were ineffective. Then he discovered it was Parkinson's. His wife, Pan Jiu-shia, said: "at that time, I pushed him in a wheelchair for treatment in all the hospitals in north Taiwan. We were fortunate that he had the DBS operation in Hualien in 2002. A man who had to use a wheelchair and be fed was finally able to walk out of the hospital on his own." This remarkable recovery of her husband cured Pan of the depression she had been suffering because of his illness.
The patients and their families could not find the words to express their thanks. Dr Chen and his colleagues in the neurosurgery department, Dr. Tsai Sheng-tsung and Dr Lin Sheng-huang, shared their knowledge of the disease and the new forms of treatment. Dr. Tsai said that the DBS operation did not damage the structure of the brain. DBS had become the most effective form of surgery for Parkinson's disease.

Newer news items:
- Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital Celebrates Ninth Birthday
- Annual Statistics of Cord Blood Storage and Transplants
- Annual Statistics on Bone Marrow Donors from the Buddhist Tzu Chi Stem Cells Center
- Tzu Chi Doctors Deliver Baby with Congenital Defect
Older news items:
- The 110th Mobile Dental Mission
- Tzu Chi Malaysia Donates 10 Dialysis Machines to Myanmar
- Foundation Holds Its Seventh Annual Health Fair in Massachusetts
- Silent Mentors – Heroes of Life