Experience plays a crucial role in deep brain stimulation surgeries, which give a chance to intervene with time and "turn back the clock" on Parkinson's disease. The physician's knowledge and experience can shorten the duration of the surgery, reduce the risks of surgical complications, and provide assistance in accurately placing the electrodes in cases where obtaining certain information is challenging.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic degenerative progressive disorder of the central nervous system that occurs due to a decrease in a substance called "dopamine" in the brain. The initial symptoms of Parkinson's that negatively affect daily life include tremors, primarily on one side of the body resembling a "money counting" motion, slowed movements, muscle stiffness, a dulling of the gaze, reduced facial expressions known as a "masked face," and walking with small steps in a forward-leaning posture.

Despite Parkinson's being a chronic and progressive disease, patients are not helpless. Treatment methods for the disease include initial medication therapy, and in cases where medication is insufficient or severe side effects occur, surgical procedures such as deep brain stimulation surgery are utilized. DBS is a highly effective treatment method for Parkinson's patients.

Deep Brain Stimulation is a procedure which consists of two thin electrodes inserted into the brain, a neurostimulator implanted under the skin, similar to a cardiac pacemaker, and two extension wires connecting them. Through computer programming from the outside, we provide electrical current into the brain. In this way, we aim to control excessive activities in the regions responsible for the disease and alleviate disease symptoms. This treatment method, called "neuromodulation," also provides significant results in movement disorders such as Essential tremor and Dystonia.

We frequently encounter the question, "What are the risks of deep brain stimulation surgery?" The experience of the physician is one of the most important factors that minimize risks in these surgeries. In experienced hands, complications such as cerebral hemorrhage, infection, weakness in limbs, and impairment in speech or vision decrease to levels as low as 1-2%. Over 30 years of accumulated experience and teachings from over 1,700 movement disorder surgeries and over 1,200 DBS surgeries have shown that experience can shorten the duration of the surgery, reduce surgical complication risks, and provide assistance in accurately placing the electrodes in cases where obtaining certain information is challenging.

DBS provides an opportunity to intervene with the timing of Parkinson's disease. Therefore, we can describe the contribution of this treatment to patients as "turning back the clock" on the disease. This means that many patients who have been disconnected from social life, dependent on the others, and forced to sustain their lives with assistance can return to their daily and social lives, live independently, and a significant portion can resume their professions.

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