A man living with Parkinson’s has said a new drug has transformed his life in a matter of days.
Damien Gath, 52, has experienced years of daily involuntary shaking and pain caused by the neurological condition, which he said made everyday tasks a struggle.
Mr Gath became the first patient in the East Midlands to be treated with a new drug, Produodopa, last week.
His wife Amanda filmed him before treatment and its “extraordinary and life-changing” effects two days later.
Mr Gath was first diagnosed with the disease, a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years, 12 years ago.
Parkinson’s does not directly cause people to die, but the condition can place great strain on the body and make some more vulnerable to serious and life-threatening infections, the NHS says.
Mr Gath underwent treatment with new infusion therapy on 10 July.
Before the treatment, Mrs Gath filmed him at home shaking as he tried to make a cup of coffee.
She then recorded him doing the same thing two days later with no involuntary movements.
“I almost can’t believe that’s me in the video,” Mr Gath told the BBC.
“For the last three years I have been shaking uncontrollably for two to three hours a day, every day.
“It’s early days but now I shake for five or 10 minutes a day.”
He added: “It’s been extraordinary and life-changing – just shortly after first having the treatment, I was able make a cup of coffee more easily.
“I can go to the supermarket without throwing eggs all over the aisles.
“I can go to the pub without people thinking I’m just really drunk.
“I can start to think about getting back to a normal life.”
How does Produodopa work?
Produodopa is a combination of two drugs – foslevodopa and foscarbidopa.
It works by turning foslevodopa into the chemical dopamine, which helps transmit messages between the parts of the brain and nerves that control movement.
That helps manage Parkinson’s symptoms, such as excessive movement or tremors.
The infusion enters the patient’s bloodstream through a cannula under the skin and is controlled by a small, automatic pump, releasing a steady flow of the treatment 24 hours a day to stay on top of symptoms.
It also has the option of a manual boost if needed.
Mr Gath said his condition had been getting worse, and he had been taking four separate oral drugs, six times a day, to try to control his symptoms, which have also included constant muscle pain.
He said he had been in considerable pain at night and unable to sleep, experiencing significant fluctuations in his condition as the effect of the oral drugs reduced during the night.
He said the pump now steadily released medication into his bloodstream around the clock.
“The massive difference is that there are now no fluctuations,” he said.
‘New era of treatment’
Mrs Gath said: “We have always tried to continue to do normal everyday things like going out for a meal.
“But sometimes it was difficult to deal with the lack of understanding from people around you and that made me very protective of Damien.
“Now, we are just like any other couple enjoying themselves.”
Mr Gath, from Derby, has been in the care of Sherwood Forest Hospitals (SFH) NHS Foundation Trust in Nottinghamshire since 2016.
The trust’s consultant geriatrician and service lead for Parkinson’s, Dr Nishantha Silva, said: “We are proud to be the first trust in the East Midlands to offer this and aim to build on this success by expanding access to Produodopa.
“The successful implementation of Produodopa at SFH heralds a new era in the management of advanced Parkinson’s disease.”
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This was shown first on: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd1xwr2qy3do
