Bethesda Hospital, member of HealthEast® Care System
“Dystonia can affect anyone, young, elderly or in-between.”
Dr. Jawad A. Bajwa, Medical Director of the Capistrant Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders
“Dystonia is one of the most misdiagnosed and misunderstood disorders I encounter,” said Dr. Jawad A. Bajwa. “For years, the assumption was that the affliction was a muscle disorder, or often, dystonic patients were told their symptoms were hysterical, meaning imagined. But truly, it’s a movement disorder that originates in the brain, not because of hysteria, nor is it a muscular disorder.”
Dystonia, explains Dr. Bajwa, can most simply be described as a circuit disorder. “When we look at the brain of someone with dystonia, it looks like they’re completely normal. But competing signals are being sent to their muscles — their brain is telling a muscle in the body to do one thing, but at the same time, a second, non-intentional signal works against the first signal, causing painful involuntary spasms.”
Bethesda Hospital is one of three hospitals working in partnership to offer deep brain stimulation (DBS) to dystonia patients. DBS involves implanting an electrical wire in the brain to block the abnormal brain signals, and is just one way to address certain types of dystonia that are resistant to other treatments. “We have been able to identify the part of the brain affected by the disease,” said Dr. Bajwa, “and override the abnormal circuit by implanting DBS.” The Bethesda staff also lists successes through medication and botox injections, as well as physical therapy.
“Dystonia dramatically affects the lives of anyone from young kids to 80-year-olds,” said Dr. Bajwa. “And it can happen just as someone is starting out on a career — as in musician’s dystonia. There are far more social impacts on life with dystonia than with other diseases — it can cause people to leave a profession entirely. I just want people to know: If you’ve been told that not much can be done, or that your condition is hopeless — we are here to help you.”
