Breakthrough Treatments for Parkinson’s, Diabetes, Depression and More

As research, science and technology continue to advance, doctors and other health professionals are finding new ways to treat chronic or life-threatening conditions. Here are some innovative procedures and treatments that are helping those with diabetes, heart disease, depression and Parkinson's disease.

A less invasive treatment for for tremors

Deep brain stimulation surgery is the gold standard for treating Parkinson's disease tremors that don't respond to medication. It's effective in about 90 percent of cases but involves implanting electrodes in the brain through surgery, which doctors don't recommend for high-risk patients. Last December the FDA approved a new noninvasive treatment that uses MRI to guide ultrasound waves directly to the most affected areas of the brain. The treatment, called Exablate Neuro, destroys misfiring brain cells in the targeted area without requiring the opening of the skull.

Hannah Whitaker

Using bright light as medicine for depression

Mental health professionals have used light-box therapy for decades to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which leads to a low mood in winter but eases its depressing grip when the days get longer. New research indicates that the same therapy may be effective for other types of depression, including treatment-resistant depression and even bipolar depression. (Indeed, one recent study found that among patients hospitalized for depression, those in rooms facing southeast, which received the most light, were discharged an average of 30 days earlier than those in rooms facing northwest.) Researchers believe that the therapy, which involves sitting near a light box during morning hours, resets a disordered circadian rhythm, resulting in an improved mood.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals

Mood-adjusting spray for depression

Many people who have spent their lives dealing with depression have gotten used to having treatments that previously worked suddenly fail. It happened repeatedly to Robin Prothro, 60. “They work for a couple of weeks or months, and then it just goes back to the usual,” she says. Two years ago, Prothro entered a clinical trial for esketamine, now sold as Spravato, a nasal spray related to an old approved anesthetic. She reports that her symptoms improved immediately. In March the FDA approved the drug — in conjunction with an oral antidepressant — for people with treatment-resistant depression. Prothro, meanwhile, is still going for regular treatments under her doctor's supervision. “It has not stopped working for a day,” she adds.

Estudio Santa Rita

Oxygen treatment that limits heart damage

During a heart attack, part of the heart muscle can die if it's deprived of oxygen. Supersaturated oxygen (SSO2) therapy, which recently won FDA approval, infuses concentrated oxygen into the area of the heart muscle that's starved of it. As a result, the size of the damaged area is reduced. The therapy is being used in experimental treatments at several U.S. hospitals.