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Tag: DBS

  • This woman’s Tourette’s took a lot from her; She got her life back with a unique treatment

    Pennsylvania woman finds relief from Tourette’s with deep brain stimulation

    BRAIN. I HAVEN’T PUT THIS BODY IN A DRESS IN YEARS, SO HONESTLY, I. I HONESTLY DON’T EVEN KNOW WE’RE IN FOR WE’RE IN FOR A SHOCK TODAY. SO ABBY BAILEY HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR ABOUT THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE, INCLUDING TOURETTE’S. WHAT KIND OF DRESS ARE WE LOOKING FOR HERE? I’M LOOKING FOR A LACE DRESS. IF YOU ALL KNOW WHO HAILEY BIEBER IS, I WANT, I WANT, I WANT HER DRESS. EXCEPT NOT STRAPLESS. NOT. I LIKE THE SLEEVES ON THIS ONE. ABBY. THAT ONE’S PRETTY, TOO. I THINK WE CAN GET IT IN, I BREAK IT DOESN’T HAVE TO COME AND WATCH. WITH GENERATIONS OF WOMEN IN HER CORNER TOASTING A HAPPY DAY THAT ABBY BAILEY NEVER THOUGHT COULD HAPPEN. WHERE’S MIMI AND THEM? LOOK PRETTY. I LOVE IT, I LIKE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT. TO REWIND TO KINDERGARTEN, GRADUATION. ABOUT EIGHT SECONDS INTO THE VIDEO, HER PARENTS RECORDED, YOU SEE THE TICS START THE OFFICIAL DIAGNOSIS OF TOURETTE’S CAME AT AGE THREE AND A HALF. I KNEW LIKE THIRD GRADE. ON FIFTH GRADE. I REMEMBER IT A LOT. BUT MIDDLE SCHOOL IS REALLY WHERE I STARTED, LIKE HAVING PROBLEMS AND WHERE I STARTED LIKE NOTICING IT BEING MORE PRONE IN MY LIFE. ABBY’S MOM, COLLEEN, WOULD PUT ICE PACKS ON HER TO CALM THE EFFECTS OF TOURETTE’S, WHICH INCLUDES INVOLUNTARY MOVEMENT AND OCD. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER. SHE WOULD WALK TO THE CAR AND SHE WOULD WALK THREE STEPS, DO A TWIRL, TOUCH THE GROUND, WALK THREE STEPS, TWIRL, TOUCH THE GROUND. AND MY HUSBAND WOULD BE LIKE, OKAY, FORGET THIS. AND HE WOULD JUST PICK HER UP AND JUST WALK TO THE CAR. AND WHEN I WOULD LAY IN BED, I’D HAVE TO TELL MY MOM, LIKE, DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING? I DO SAY, THINK, ACT. BUT EVERY DAY I HAD TO ADD ANOTHER WORD ON TO IT SO IT WOULD BE A WHOLE LONG THING. AND GOD FORBID I DIDN’T SEE IT BEFORE I WENT TO BED LIKE I WAS. IT JUST BLEW UP. ABBY’S CONDITION WAS VERY SEVERE. IT SHE’D HAD SYMPTOMS SINCE ABOUT THREE YEARS OF AGE AND IT HAD BEEN PROGRESSIVE. SHE ACTUALLY INJURED HERSELF, YOU KNOW, BREAKING FINGERS, BREAKING RIBS BY THESE INADVERTENT MOVEMENTS. ALL YOU WANT IS TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT YOUR KIDS, AND YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS. AND WHEN YOU CAN’T, IT’S DEVASTATING. SO ALL I DID WAS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I WAS A RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. THROUGH ALL OF THAT, ABBY GOT HER ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE IN SOCIAL WORK WHEN SHE TRULY WANTED WAS HER BACHELOR’S. MY TRACKS ACTUALLY KEPT ME FROM GOING TO COLLEGE. SHE LANDED A JOB AS A CASE MANAGER WITH CONNECTIVE, ARE WORKING IN THE MEDICAL FIELD. I WAS SO HAPPY I COULDN’T EVEN PUT IT INTO WORDS. SO WHAT I WAS GOING TO SCHOOL FOR, IT’S WHAT I WANTED MY DEGREE IN AND I GOT THE JOB. SO I WAS SO EXCITED. AND THEN IT WENT. IT WAS LIKE TAKEN AWAY FROM ME AND STOPPED. HER TOURETTE’S, THOUGH, HAD ADVANCED SO MUCH SHE HAD TO RESIGN FROM HER JOB. NEW YEAR’S EVE 2024 ABBY HAD TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL. IT WAS SEPSIS AND I REMEMBER JUST BEING IN THE HOSPITAL AND I WAS LIKE, IT’S TIME. LIKE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT AND TALKING ABOUT IT AND I KEPT PUSHING IT OFF. I DIDN’T WANT IT. I DIDN’T WANT IT BECAUSE IN HIGH SCHOOL I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT AND I STILL DIDN’T WANT IT. YOU KNEW IT WAS AN OPTION? YES, I KNEW IT WAS AN OPTION. THAT OPTION, DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION, BRAIN SURGERY, SOMETHING THE CHAIR OF NEUROSCIENCES INSTITUTE, DOCTOR DONALD WHITING, TELLS ME HE’S BEEN PERFORMING FOR A QUARTER CENTURY ON THOUSANDS OF PATIENTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. IT IS IS WHERE WE PUT AN ELECTRODE INTO A CERTAIN PART OF THE BRAIN THAT ISN’T FUNCTIONING NORMALLY. AND THEN WE PUT ELECTRICAL CURRENT, LOW VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL CURRENT INTO THAT AREA TO GET IT TO GET BACK IN SYNC WITH THE REST OF THE BRAIN RHYTHMS. OKAY, ABBY, IT’S FOUR IN THE MORNING, DAY OF THE SURGERY. HOW DO YOU FEEL? AWESOME. VERY NERVOUS, BUT I’M EXCITED TO GET IT DONE WITH GUYS, I LOVE YOU. SHE’S GIVING ME MY VALIUM. I ROCK THE SURGICAL CARE CENTER GETTING READY FOR BRAIN SURGERY. SURGERY NUMBER TWO, DOCTOR WHITING SAYS AFTER THE PROCEDURE TO IMPLANT THE ELECTRODE AND THEN THE PACEMAKER LIKE DEVICE, YOU DON’T JUST FLIP A SWITCH TO ERASE TOURETTE’S. PROGRAMMERS SPEND MONTHS PROGRAMING ABBY’S HARDWARE, NAVIGATING 64,000 SETTINGS. YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY GETS SURGERY AND THEY SAY, I WANT TO WAKE UP AND BE BETTER. WELL, THIS ISN’T LIKE THAT. THIS IS LIKE BUYING YOU A GUITAR AND THEN YOU LEARN TO PLAY IT. AND THE MORE YOU PRACTICE, THE BETTER IT GETS WITH US, THE MORE WE PROGRAM. TILL WE GET TO THAT RIGHT SETTING, THE BETTER IT GETS. BUT IT’S WHEN THEY TURN THE BATTERY ON THAT I FELT LIKE A SENSE OF HAPPINESS. DESCRIBE THAT TO ME. SO YOU FELT A DIFFERENCE WHEN THEY JUST TURNED THE BATTERY? I FELT LIKE MY LIFE WAS LIKE COMING BACK. LIKE I WAS GETTING IT BACK. THIS WAS THE NEXT STEP. IT’S HAPPY. YEAH IT IS. THESE ARE HAPPY TEARS. YEAH. FOUR VISITS TO RECALIBRATE AND ADJUST THE AMPS. YOU CAN FEEL EVERY AMP THEY GO UP. OH WOW. WE’RE CRANKING YOU, ABBY AND ABBY’S LIKE I CAN FEEL IT IN MY NOSE. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. LIKE A TASTE IN HER MOUTH. METAL TASTE METAL IN MY MOUTH. OR LIKE, ONE SIDE, DEPENDING ON WHAT SIDE THE ELECTRODES ARE ON. I CAN FEEL ONE SIDE OF MY BRAIN, LIKE BURNING OR THE OTHER SIDE BURNING. SO IT TOOK HER PROBABLY ABOUT THREE MONTHS TO GET TO WHERE IT WAS. AND, AND BUT YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A REALLY GREAT TEAM WHO DOES GREAT PROGRAMING. AND SHE GOT TO WHERE SHE ALL OF HER SYMPTOMS WERE GONE. ALL OF THEM. YOU SAY THAT PHRASE, ALL OF HER SYMPTOMS WERE GONE. THAT JUST MAKES YOU CHOKED UP BECAUSE YOU’RE GIVING HER HER LIFE BACK. FAST FORWARD TO OCTOBER. LET’S JUST GO SHOPPING. BUT HE’S LIKE, I’M THINKING ABOUT PROPOSING TO ABBY. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? AND WE’RE LIKE, GO FOR IT. LIKE, THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. ABBY’S BOYFRIEND, SHANE SMITH POPPED THE QUESTION ON THE BEACH. SHE SAID, YES, WE’RE VERY HAPPY TOGETHER. HE’S A COUNTRY BOY. WHILE SHE PLANS HER OCTOBER WEDDING, SHE’S GOING BACK TO COLLEGE AT ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY FOR THAT BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION. AND ONE MORE THING. SHE GOT HER OLD JOB BACK. WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU, SORT OF YOUR FIRST DAY BACK ON THE JOB? OH, I SAW ALL MY OLD FRIENDS. I SAW MY OLD BOSSES. IT WAS AMAZING. EVERYONE WAS LIKE, HOW ARE YOU DOING? OH MY GOSH. ABBY AND HER FAMILY ARE GRATEFUL FOR DOCTOR WHITING AND HIS TEAM. I JUST THANK H

    Pennsylvania woman finds relief from Tourette’s with deep brain stimulation

    Updated: 3:19 PM EST Jan 3, 2026

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Abigail Bailey was tired of living with Tourette’s syndrome. The 24-year-old from Beaver County, Pennsylvania, had to resign from her job and suspend her college career because the tics and OCD that come with Tourette’s became too severe. The tics led to broken fingers and ribs.”I knew, like, third grade or fifth grade. I remember it a lot. But middle school is really where I started having problems, and where I started noticing it being more prone in my life,” Bailey said.On New Year’s Eve in 2024, Bailey went to the hospital with sepsis. It was there that she made the decision to go ahead with deep brain stimulation, a treatment that was established in the 1980s to treat Parkinson’s disease, dystonia and essential tremors.Dr. Donald Whiting, chair of the AHN Neuroscience Institute, believed Bailey could benefit from DBS.”Abby’s condition was very severe,” Whiting said. “She had symptoms since about 3 years of age, and it had been progressive. She actually injured herself, breaking fingers, breaking ribs by these inadvertent movements.”The procedure involves one surgery to implant electrodes in precise areas of the brain. An extension wire connects to the electrode and is threaded under the skin of the head, neck and shoulder. The second part involves connecting the wires to a pulse generator, like a pacemaker, which is implanted near the collarbone.A post-surgery calibration requires multiple visits back to Allegheny General Hospital, where programmers work with the patient to adjust the amps.Bailey let Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 anchor Shannon Perrine come along with her as she shopped for a wedding dress. She says she is nearly 100% free of Tourette’s effects. She went back to college to earn her bachelor’s degree, and got her old job back. The wedding is scheduled for October.Whiting was one of the first physicians to perform DBS. In 2008, he performed DBS on 19-year-old Ed Cwalinski for a severe case of dystonia. Cwalinski continues to do well after surgery almost 20 years ago.

    Abigail Bailey was tired of living with Tourette’s syndrome. The 24-year-old from Beaver County, Pennsylvania, had to resign from her job and suspend her college career because the tics and OCD that come with Tourette’s became too severe. The tics led to broken fingers and ribs.

    “I knew, like, third grade or fifth grade. I remember it a lot. But middle school is really where I started having problems, and where I started noticing it being more prone in my life,” Bailey said.

    On New Year’s Eve in 2024, Bailey went to the hospital with sepsis. It was there that she made the decision to go ahead with deep brain stimulation, a treatment that was established in the 1980s to treat Parkinson’s disease, dystonia and essential tremors.

    Dr. Donald Whiting, chair of the AHN Neuroscience Institute, believed Bailey could benefit from DBS.

    “Abby’s condition was very severe,” Whiting said. “She had symptoms since about 3 years of age, and it had been progressive. She actually injured herself, breaking fingers, breaking ribs by these inadvertent movements.”

    The procedure involves one surgery to implant electrodes in precise areas of the brain. An extension wire connects to the electrode and is threaded under the skin of the head, neck and shoulder. The second part involves connecting the wires to a pulse generator, like a pacemaker, which is implanted near the collarbone.

    A post-surgery calibration requires multiple visits back to Allegheny General Hospital, where programmers work with the patient to adjust the amps.

    Bailey let Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 anchor Shannon Perrine come along with her as she shopped for a wedding dress. She says she is nearly 100% free of Tourette’s effects. She went back to college to earn her bachelor’s degree, and got her old job back. The wedding is scheduled for October.

    Whiting was one of the first physicians to perform DBS. In 2008, he performed DBS on 19-year-old Ed Cwalinski for a severe case of dystonia. Cwalinski continues to do well after surgery almost 20 years ago.

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  • The Future of Treatment

    The Future of Treatment

    By James Giordano, PhD, as told to Kara Mayer Robinson

    Over the last 20 years, we’ve seen major strides in the treatment options for major depressive disorder.

    We now understand that depression isn’t the same for everyone. The idea is to identify and diagnose what’s happening in a person’s neurochemistry so we can target our treatment in a way that works specifically for them.

    Advances in Evidence-Based Treatment

    Drug therapy has come a long way in recent years. We’ve improved the scope and focus of drug therapy by developing more selective or specialized antidepressants and combining them in new ways, with fewer side effects.

    Drug therapy today may include newer medications like citalopram (Celexa) and escitalopram (Lexapro) as well as existing medications like fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft). 

    It tends to work best when combined with psychotherapy, as supported by ample evidence. We now know the most effective and efficient types of therapy appear to be cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic therapy.

    For people whose depression is resistant to psychotherapy and drug therapy, doctors may use electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Today’s version of ECT is much more specific, with lower side effects. It’s usually reserved for people who have severe, drug-resistant depression with bipolar characteristics.

    Newer Treatments

    Many new therapies have been introduced that have led to major improvement for patients.

    Ketamine

    A newer therapy involves the drug ketamine, which has been used in the past as an anesthetic and has robust benefits. It’s a relatively new approach. It’s been around for about 5 years.

    Ketamine therapy resets your brain node and network connectivity to reduce, if not abolish, many depressive signs and symptoms. Many patients have longstanding relief, and in some cases, recover.

    Ketamine therapy may involve as little as a single dose. Or it could be multiple doses over a short period of time. But it must be done under medical supervision. While it’s usually outpatient therapy, proper dosing and support of a patient using ketamine is critical.

    It’s not the first drug of choice because it has fairly profound effects on the brain and has to be used with caution. Right now it’s used for severe treatment-resistant depression. But there’s an ongoing discussion that people with severe depression may do well using it earlier in treatment.

    I think you’ll see an increased use of ketamine in the future, particularly for those who don’t get help from other treatments.

    Psychedelics

    There’s building evidence for the use of psychedelic drugs to treat major depression.

    Drugs like psilocybin, commonly known as mushrooms, and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) can change the properties in your brain chemistry that are involved in depression.

    Microdoses or millidoses of these drugs can be very effective, either by themselves or when used with antidepressants. They can improve symptoms, behavior, and function. They tend to be fast-acting, but for some people the effects don’t last long.

    Psychedelics are still viewed with relative stigma and they’re a controlled substance. It’s necessary to find the right microdose and schedule for the best effect. Not all clinicians are skilled, comfortable, or willing to provide psychedelic drugs.

    Another drawback is that people may try to self-medicate, which is very difficult. This is a very specific method that requires clinical skill.

    More research is needed. We need medicine-based evidence for the use and value of psychedelics in treating certain types of depression.

    Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

    TMS, which involves passing a very weak magnetic current through your skull, is interesting. It works like a dimmer switch to change the electrical activity of your brain and reduce signs and symptoms of depression.

    There’s very promising research that repetitive TMS can be very effective in treating certain forms of treatment-resistant depression. It’s very easy to do, can be tailored to each patient’s needs, and often has a rapid and durable response. It can be used by itself or combined with psychotherapy or drug treatment.

    But while the effects of TMS are robust, they may taper over time. It may require multiple sessions, and you have to find a clinician who’s trained and skilled to administer TMS.

    Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)

    Deep brain stimulation is a new, emerging treatment that involves implanting electrodes to target specific areas of the brain. It can be adjusted for each individual patient to most effectively control their symptoms and signs of depression.

    DBS was first tried in 2005. Since then, the science has advanced considerably with the help of the BRAIN Initiative, an NIH program aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. Now we have a better understanding of how to target the brain more precisely, which may lead to better results. More research will help even more.

    DBS appears to reset the network activities of the brain. Over time, the brain activity involved in depression may be turned off, which means patients stay in remission. There’s evidence to suggest DBS has long-lasting effects.

    An interesting effect we’ve seen with some patients is how significantly it changes their outlook. Some people appear more outgoing and ebullient, with a newfound vigor and even changing interests. It’s hard to tell if these changes are a side effect of DBS or if it’s the result of feeling the burden of depression lifted. It’s very interesting.

    A downside of DBS is that it’s neurosurgery, so there’s the risk of infection and hemorrhage. It’s rare, but there’s also a risk of misplacement, or electrode drift.

    Other cons include side effects and cost. Insurance companies don’t uniformly cover DBS. As the technology gets better, there will be a need for maintenance and upkeep that may be costly.

    I believe DBS is the future. When it works, it really works.

    On the Horizon

    The emerging technology is moving toward minimal or noninvasive DBS.

    There’s cutting-edge technology involving nonsurgical implantation of electrodes. A program at DARPA, an agency that supports the BRAIN Initiative, is looking at small transmitters and stimulators that can be delivered into the bloodstream, inhaled, or even swallowed, then guided to the brain.

    Other groups are looking at minimally invasive approaches that can be done in a doctor’s office. All it requires is a very small hole in your scalp, where doctors insert fluid electrodes, then guide them to the brain electromagnetically. When they get to the brain, they harden.

    I believe this is the future. It may be ready in some form in 5-10 years.

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