New Delhi: India may have taken a big leap in the field of psychosurgery with the country’s first deep brain stimulation surgery (DBS) for schizophrenia performed on a Kenyan national earlier this month at the Marengo Asia hospital in Haryana’s Gurugram.
Schizophrenia is a serious mental health illness in which patients interpret reality abnormally. The disease is characterised by hallucinations, delusions, anxiety and disorganised behaviour.
DBS, a type of psychosurgery — a subspecialty in the field of neurosurgery — is an evolving surgical technique that involves the implantation of electrodes into specific areas of the brain. These electrodes deliver electrical impulses to regulate abnormal brain activity.
While this surgery is also performed on patients with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, its potential in treating mental disorders, including schizophrenia, appears promising.
To date, there are only 14 recorded cases globally in which the procedure was performed on individuals suffering from schizophrenia.
According to Dr Himanshu Champaneri, senior consultant neurosurgeon at Marengo Asia, while the patient, who is a 28-year-old, felt up to 50-60 percent improvement in his symptoms, there was a reduction of up to 80 percent in his hallucinations, delusions and anxiety.
DBS acts by modulating the abnormal brain networks, so the patients are expected to improve further with the passage of time, he told ThePrint.
According to Champaneri, “The advantages of DBS surgery lie in its ability to offer a personalised approach to treatment. By targeting specific regions of the brain, DBS can potentially alleviate symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life when traditional methods of treatment are insufficient.”
“The target chosen in schizophrenia is called nucleus accumbens, which is responsible for the patient’s symptoms like hallucinations and delusions,” he added.
The patient on whom the surgery was performed had schizophrenia for the last 15 years and the symptoms were so debilitating that he had almost no life outside his room, the neurosurgeon said.
His case was also categorised as ‘treatment-resistant schizophrenia’ which is an indication for the DBS surgery.
Approval for this psychosurgery was sought from the Haryana State Mental Health Authority in accordance with the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.
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Mental health burden in India
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that the burden of mental health problems in India is 2,443 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per 100,000 population; the age-adjusted suicide rate per 100,000 population is 21.1. One DALY, according to the WHO, represents the “loss of the equivalent of one year of full health”.
The global health body also estimates the economic loss to India due to mental health conditions, between 2012-2030, at $1.03 trillion.
According to a government report 6-7 percent of the Indian population suffers from mental disorders. And the lifetime incidence of schizophrenia is an estimated 1.4 percent in the Indian population.
Given that it is a serious condition with a multitude of problems including social isolation and stigmatisation, Champaneri said that awareness of the disease is still very low even among the literate population.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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