Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Health Care Quarterly:

Revolutionizing the fight against movement disorders

Movement disorders, an increasingly recognized subspecialty within neurology, focuses on diseases and conditions that involve abnormal, involuntary or poorly controlled movements. While these diseases are recognized through abnormal movements, they are so much more than just impaired motor control. Some of the more common movement disorders include Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease and dystonia. PD stands out for its profound public health impact: this disabling and progressive disease affects up to one million Americans. While we have yet to find a cure for PD and other movement disorders, world-renowned institutes including Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health lead the way in excellent clinical care and scientific discovery.

Having spent more than two decades as a medical scientist and movement disorders expert, I am thrilled to join the elite staff at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health as new section head of the Nevada Movement Disorders Program and Lee Pascal Parkinson’s Disease Scholar. I truly believe that the possibilities are endless at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, and I believe in this exceptional environment my colleagues and I are at the right place and time to revolutionize PD.

For brain diseases such as PD, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health is already an internationally renowned clinical trials site and recognized for its remarkable results. I plan to expand our movement disorders clinical trials program by adding high-impact PD trials. Research for movement disorders is especially important as currently there are no disease-modifying therapies and I see the potential to change that. First, my colleagues and I have developed a new peptide that showed the best-ever results in halting disease progression in models of PD, and we’ll soon be ready to begin clinical trials testing. Second, we have started testing a novel positron emission tomography technology that can measure disease activity more precisely than previous methods.

I developed the Deep Brain Stimulation Center at Johns Hopkins University over the past 11 years, and I hope to bring this treatment option to the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. DBS is an advanced surgical procedure used to treat the disabling symptoms of movement disorders and uses a surgically implanted, battery-operated medical device called a neurostimulator to deliver electrical stimulation to targeted areas in the brain that control movement and block the abnormal nerve signals that cause tremor and other symptoms. This innovative treatment is recommended for those who have severe symptoms that cannot be treated with medication and is offered at Cleveland Clinic main campus. Through enhanced collaboration between Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, other Nevada care partners, and the Cleveland Clinic main campus, I intend to develop a way for our patients to have the option to receive their DBS implants by one of the best DBS neurosurgeons in the world using state-of-the-art technology on main campus, while receiving all care before and after the procedure at Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Having this option accessible to our patients will ensure the best possible outcomes.

Another exciting area of interest I plan focusing on at Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health is the center’s movement disorder remote-care program. Currently, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health is actively providing comprehensive care across Nevada, including Elko and Parhump through our telemedicine program. Combining technology, such as remote sensors that monitor a patient’s symptoms during daily activity, with education and care by family members, I envision a collaborative effort that could improve quality of life through in-home care, while reducing nursing home placement and hospital visits. Remote care is particularly appropriate where clinical care and clinical research projects can overlap and I have great hopes I can develop a successful and growing remote care program.

These are some of the areas of interest that I look forward to contributing to in my new role at Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. The work being done by the movement disorders program is remarkable and I am excited to see further momentum we will gain as we continue on our quest to provide outstanding patient care, while advancing critical medical research. Those interested in learning more about Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health movement disorders program or to make an appointment with a member of the movement disorders team can call 702-483-6000.

Zoltan Mari, M.D., is the section head of the Nevada Movement Disorders Program and Lee Pascal Parkinson’s Disease Scholar at Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

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