Spotlight

Movement disorders encompass a variety of conditions that can involve either a lack of movement (rigidity) or excessive movement. Specialists at the UC Irvine Medical Center Movement Disorders Program treat these conditions with medications and/or surgery, as appropriate.

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Conditions treated

Physicians at the Movement Disorders Program specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions including:

• Parkinson's Disease (PD) and Parkinsonian syndromes—a family of a neurodegenerative disorders causing tremor, rigidity, slow movements and a variety of other symptoms. Parkinsonian syndromes can be the result of other causes, such as stroke.
• Dystonia of all types—dystonia refers to involuntary muscle spasms and sudden jerky or repetitive movements. Forms of dystonia include blepharospasm (involuntary closing of the eyes), torticollis (twisting of the neck) and dysphonia (a voice disorder).
• Tremor—an involuntary shaking, also called essential tremor or benign essential tremor.
• Restless leg syndrome (RLS)—an irresistible need to move the legs, particularly when resting.
• Tic and Tourette's syndrome—tics are brief, intermittent, repetitive, unpredictable movements (motor tics) or sounds (vocal tics). Tourette’s syndrome involves multiple tics, and usually appears during childhood.
• Huntington's disease (HD)—a progressive, genetically inherited disease characterized by incessant quick, jerky, involuntary movements.

Team approach

Clinical care at UC Irvine Medical Center is unsurpassed in the Orange County area. Patients in the Movement Disorders Program are attended by an integrated, multidisciplinary team of professionals including fellowship-trained neurologists and neurosurgeons, nurse practitioners, geneticists, neurophysiologists, neuropsychologists and social workers as needed.

Medications

The majority of movement disorders can be treated by medication. Patients in the Movement Disorders Program receive individualized assessments to determine whether a specific drug or combination of drugs can be effective in treating their condition. New classes of drugs have been introduced recently that are more effective and carry less risk of side effects than the first generation of pharmaceuticals which were discovered to help people with movement disorders.

In addition, as a university-based organization, UC Irvine offers patients access to even newer, experimental medications. Current clinical trials are under way to test drugs that may slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease and relieve symptoms of both PD and dystonia.

Learn about clinical trials »

Surgery

Procedures available at UC Irvine include:

• Pallidotomy—surgery for PD employing a heated probe to eliminate overactive brain cells, reducing tremors and rigidity.
• Thalamotomy—a precise surgical technique to reduce tremors, using liquid nitrogen to destroy brain cells that relay unwanted motor messages to other parts of the nervous system.
• Deep-brain stimulation (DBS)—a reversible procedure that alleviates symptoms of PD by implanting a pacemaker to block brain impulses. DBS can improve movement, allow patients to reduce their dependence on antiparkinsonian medications, and help reduce side effects caused by long-term drug therapy. It is also being used for dystonia and tremor.

Huntington’s disease

UC Irvine has been a leader in research and care for people with Huntington’s disease for many years. In fact, Dr. John J. Wasmuth of the Department of Biological Chemistry and leader of the National Human Genome Center at the university was part of the international team that discovered the genetic defect causing the disease.

Today, patients and families seeking neurological and psychological support for this disorder can benefit from the services available at our Huntington’s Disease Clinic.

In addition, researchers at UC Irvine are actively involved in identifying new drug combinations with the potential to better treat HD.