Life Lessons from Parkinson's Dis-ease with Darren-Davis Kandler, DBS Treatment

We take medicines to get better, but what happens when they are no longer helping?

 

This was the case for Miami resident and avid track runner, Darren-Davis Kandler, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2012, a degenerative disorder that affects a person’s movement and often causes tremors.

As Darren’s disease progressed, he was taking as many as 34 pills a day to manage his motor symptoms. Side effects from the medication and the disease took a toll on his life, leaving him unable to do things he loved like traveling and struggling to simply get dressed or leave his house. 

Fortunately, Darren found success with the FDA-approved Vercise™ Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) System, a technology helping some people manage symptoms of Parkinson’s disease when medication alone is no longer effective. Since Darren’s doctors implanted the system, Darren is down to taking only four pills a day and simple tasks, like brushing his teeth, that once seemed daunting are possible again.*