A drug naive parkinsonian patient successfully treated with weak electromagnetic fields

Abstract

Brief cerebral application of picotesla (pT) electromagnetic fields (EMF) has been demonstrated an efficacious, revolutionary treatment modality for the therapy of Parkinson's disease (PD) with clinical benefits being evident in all motor aspects of the disease as well as in nonmotor symptoms such as mood, sleep, pain, sexual dysfunction, autonomic regulation and cognitive functions. Since treatment with pT EMF has involved PD patients who were treated with dopaminergic agents at the time they received EMF there may have been a synergistic interaction between dopaminergic drugs and EMF. The present communication concerns a 49-year-old male Parkinsonian patient with stage 3 disability on the Hoehn and Yahr scale (1967) who, in response to brief extracranial applications of pT EMF, demonstrated a marked improvement in motor, depressive symptomatology and cognitive functions and was classified as stage 1 several weeks later. This case is remarkable in that the patient did not receive treatment with dopaminergic drugs prior to or during the course of EMF therapy. It suggests that (a) pT range EMF may be efficacious as a monotherapy for PD and should be considered also as a treatment modality for de novo diagnosed patients, and (b) application of these EMF improves Parkinsonism by a mechanism which involves, among others, augmentation of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission.

Key Words:

• Electromagnetic fields
• Parkinson's disease
• dopamine
• levodopa
• serotonin