NEW YORK — The same kind of deep brain stimulation used to treat some patients for Parkinson’s disease also helped a few people suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, French scientists reported.
Their study involved only 16 patients, but in four of them, symptoms nearly disappeared. However, many patients had serious side effects, including one case of bleeding in the brain.
The treatment involved an experimental brain pacemaker, and it reduced repetitive thoughts and behaviors in some of the patients — just as it blocks tremors for some Parkinson’s sufferers.
The researchers came up with the approach after noticing that two Parkinson’s patients who got the treatment also saw an improvement in their obsessive-compulsive disorders. Other small studies have targeted a different part of the brain for that disorder and depression.
In the French study, symptoms were reduced more than 25 percent, the researchers said.
The results are “very encouraging,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Luc Mallet of Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris. In an e-mail, he said the procedure should be used only in medical studies at the moment because of the possible side effects.
The findings are reported in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.
About 2.2 million American adults have obsessive-compulsive disorder. It involves recurring, unwanted thoughts, such as a fear of germs, and people who have it engage in repetitious rituals.
