MGH Movement Disorders Unit

The purpose of the Massachusetts General Hospital's Movement Disorders Unit is to provide diagnosis, treatment, and support to patients with movement disorders including Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's Disease, dystonia, tremor, and other neurodegenerative disorders.

General Services

The physicians in the Unit are all experienced clinicians in the field who have focused their careers on the study of movement disorders. Many serve on advisory committees for various private organizations such as the National Parkinson Foundation, the United Parkinson Foundation, the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation and the Tourette Syndrome Association.

Physicians in the Unit work in conjunction with physicians who refer patients to provide comprehensive care. All referring physicians receive a copy of the patients' evaluation as well as recommendations for diagnosis and follow-up treatments.

Diagnostic services in the Unit include laboratory tests, cognitive testing and brain imaging. Treatment plans tailored to specific patient circumstances include oral medications, botulinum injections, and surgery.

Social workers skilled in the myriad of issues facing persons and families with movement disorders staff each of the clinics. Other specialized services include physical, occupational and speech therapy. Medical and psychiatric consultations are also available in the Ambulatory Care Center.

The Movement Disorders Unit meets on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 1:00 to 5:00pm. For appointments and answers to questions relating to the unit, call the Unit Coordinator at (617) 726-5532.

Research

Many patients who attend the MGH Movement Disorders Unit participate on a purely voluntary basis in a variety of important research activities. Each of the staff of the Movement Disorders Unit is also actively involved in basic research on motor systems. The ultimate goal of the research is to develop better strategies for the treatment of persons afflicted with movement disorders. A variety of clinical research projects are also underway:

1. New investigational drugs for the treatment of specific disorders continually become available and patients are encouraged to enter into studies of these new drugs. Each patient in a drug trial is evaluated frequently and systematically for improvement or lack of change.
2. An important aspect of research on movement disorders is to delineate their effects on mood and intellect. Research in this area is very active and patients have an opportunity to be studied in detail within these projects.
3. Biochemical markers of specific diseases would allow for their potiential early and definitive diagnosis. Research in the laboratory has suggested a number of leads and these are being pursued with tests of blood and urine.
4. Blood tests can also be used to study the genetic or inherited aspects of disease. The MGH has made many discoveries in the past several years of the genes for Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Wilson's disease. We anticipate that more genes will be discovered in the near future and encourage patients and their families to participate.
5. MRI scans of brain are also used to tell us more about specific diseases. These studies should improve diagnosis and treatment in the future.