Blogs

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

Life expectancy after spinal fusion is one of the first questions patients ask before agreeing to surgery. The procedure stabilises the spine by joining two or more vertebrae, and concerns about its long-term impact on overall lifespan are entirely understandable. The...

Warning signs of a seizure in adults are often subtle and easy to dismiss. They may appear minutes, hours, or even days before the seizure itself, and recognising them early can prevent injury, guide accurate diagnosis, and help control future episodes. Seizures in...

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

MVD gives better long-term pain relief, around 80 to 90 percent at 10 years, while gamma knife works for elderly patients who can't have open surgery. Trigeminal neuralgia is brutal. Sudden electric-shock pain across the face, set off by something as small as brushing...

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

A brain aneurysm is a weak, balloon-like bulge in a brain artery, and yes, it can rupture and trigger a life-threatening stroke. Dealing with one really comes down to three things, catching it early through imaging, keeping blood pressure in check, and getting timely...

Visit a neurosurgeon when symptoms stop being manageable. Back pain that drags into the third month. A leg going numb out of nowhere. One arm losing grip. Headaches that arrive like somebody hit you with a brick. Fits. Sudden trouble seeing or speaking. Neurosurgeons...

A migraine-friendly diet focuses on avoiding common dietary triggers such as aged cheese, chocolate, red wine, MSG, and processed meats, while including foods rich in magnesium and vitamin B-2, including spinach, almonds, salmon, and brown rice. Consistent hydration...

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

A subdural hematoma is a serious medical condition where blood collects between the brain and its outer protective layer, the dura mater, usually following a head injury, fall, or use of blood thinner medication. Common symptoms include persistent headache, confusion,...

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

Cervical dystonia, also called spasmodic torticollis, is a chronic neurological disorder where involuntary neck muscle contractions cause abnormal head tilting, twisting, and pain. There is no cure, but treatment effectively manages symptoms through botulinum toxin...

DBS programming starts roughly 3 to 4 weeks post-op. A neurologist sits with you, holds a small wireless device, and switches the stimulator on for the first time. Then the real work begins testing contacts, nudging voltage, tweaking pulse width and frequency until...

Yes, certain lights and screens can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy, a condition affecting about 3% of those with epilepsy. Common triggers include flashing lights, strobe effects, fast-changing video game images, and high-contrast or pulsating...

VNS therapy is an FDA-approved, non-drug, palliative treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy. An implanted device sends mild electrical pulses to the brain through the vagus nerve, which cuts down seizure frequency and severity. It's meant for adults and kids aged four...

Cervical myelopathy is spinal cord compression in the neck, usually from degenerative wear like arthritis, slipped discs, or thickened ligaments pressing on the cord. Symptoms build slowly at first. Hand clumsiness, trouble walking, numbness creeping into arms or...

Yes, deep brain stimulation can treat severe, treatment-resistant Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Tourette's syndrome. DBS works like a pacemaker for the brain, sending controlled electrical pulses to calm down abnormal circuit activity. It's only on the table after...

What is stereotactic brain biopsy and when is it required?

Key signs of a brain tumor in children include persistent or early morning headaches, unexplained vomiting, balance issues, seizures, vision and speech changes, and behavioural shifts. In infants, an abnormally enlarging head, a tense fontanelle, and developmental...

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

Pain under the ear behind the jaw bone on the right side can range from a dull, persistent ache to a sharp, shooting sensation that disrupts eating, speaking, and sleeping. While it may seem minor at first, recurring or worsening pain in this region should never be...

A tonic-clonic seizure, formerly known as a grand mal seizure, is one of the most recognised and physically intense types of seizures. It involves a sudden loss of consciousness, violent muscle stiffening, and rhythmic jerking of the limbs. For anyone witnessing it...

DBS surgery and levodopa treat Parkinson’s disease through entirely different mechanisms. Here is how they differ and when surgery becomes the better option.

A brain aneurysm carries rupture risk with specific warning signs days before a major bleed. Here is what to recognise and when to seek emergency assessment.

A brain AVM is an abnormal tangle of blood vessels carrying significant haemorrhage risk. Here is how dangerous it is and when treatment is indicated.

Most children achieve normal development after hydrocephalus surgery. Here is what determines outcome and what families should realistically expect.

Shunt failure in children with hydrocephalus produces specific clinical signs requiring urgent assessment. Here is what parents and clinicians need to recognise.

Hydrocephalus in children causes abnormal CSF accumulation in the brain. Here is when surgery is required and which procedure is appropriate

Spasticity is abnormal muscle tone from central nervous system injury. Here is when oral medication fails and a baclofen pump becomes indicated.

Essential tremor and Parkinson’s tremor are clinically distinct conditions with different treatments. Here is how to tell them apart and when surgery applies.

Trigeminal neuralgia requires surgery when medication fails or causes intolerable side effects. Here is when surgery becomes the right decision.

Fortis Hospital Mulund West provides structured epilepsy surgery evaluation in Mumbai. Here is what separates a proper epilepsy centre from general neurosurgery.

Seizure first aid involves protecting the patient from injury, timing the seizure duration, and identifying features that require immediate emergency services activation. No medication should be administered by a bystander unless prescribed rescue medication is...

Most children with epilepsy achieve adequate seizure control with appropriate medication and attend mainstream education without significant neurological impairment. Outcome is not uniform across epilepsy types. It depends on syndrome, underlying aetiology, age of...

A seizure is a single episode of abnormal electrical activity in the brain producing transient neurological symptoms. Epilepsy is a chronic condition defined by a predisposition to recurrent unprovoked seizures. Not every seizure means epilepsy and that distinction...

Seizures that persist despite two appropriately chosen anti-seizure medications define drug-resistant epilepsy by ILAE criteria. Around 30 percent of epilepsy patients reach this threshold. A third medication achieves seizure freedom in fewer than five percent of them...

Epilepsy surgery achieves complete seizure freedom in 60 to 80 percent of appropriately selected drug-resistant patients. Surgical outcome depends on seizure focus location, underlying pathology, and completeness of resection. Surgery is reserved for drug-resistant...

Epilepsy surgery achieves complete seizure freedom in 60 to 80 percent of appropriately selected drug-resistant patients. Outcome depends on seizure focus location, underlying pathology, and completeness of resection. Surgery is reserved for drug-resistant cases where...

Spondylolisthesis is anterior or posterior displacement of one vertebral body relative to the adjacent vertebra, graded I through IV by percentage slip. Most cases are managed conservatively. Surgical intervention is reserved for neurological deficit, progressive...

Spinal cord injury surgery addresses structural cord compression, spinal instability, and progressive neurological deterioration. The surgical objective is preventing further neurological loss and stabilising the spine for rehabilitation to commence. It does not...

Most slipped discs resolve without surgery over six to twelve weeks with physiotherapy and pain management. Surgery becomes necessary when neurological deficit is progressing, conservative management has genuinely failed after six weeks, or specific red flag symptoms...

Minimally invasive spine surgery reaches the spine through small incisions using tubular retractors that dilate muscle rather than cut through it, with fluoroscopy and navigation guiding every step. Blood loss is lower, wound infection rates are lower, and hospital...

A subdural hematoma is blood collecting on the brain surface. Here’s when it’s a medical emergency and when surgery can’t wait.

A pituitary tumor isn’t always dangerous and doesn’t always need surgery. Here’s what determines treatment and when surgery is the right call.

A seizure is one event. Epilepsy is a diagnosed condition. Know when a first seizure needs urgent imaging and when surgery is the answer.

Craniotomy and craniectomy are neurosurgical procedures that involve opening the skull to access the brain. While both techniques allow surgeons to treat serious brain conditions, the key difference lies in how the skull bone is handled during surgery. Understanding...

Depends entirely on what kind of tumor you're dealing with. That's not a dodge, it's genuinely the answer. Two patients, two brain tumors, two completely different surgical realities. One has a meningioma sitting on the brain surface with clean edges. The other has a...

Nobody explains this properly. So people walk out of consultations thinking benign means safe and malignant means it's over. Neither is quite right. Here's what benign actually means the tumor stays put. It doesn't invade the tissue around it. It won't pack up and...

The problem with brain tumor symptoms isn't that they're rare. It's that most of them look exactly like something ordinary. A headache. A bit of dizziness. Forgetting a word mid-sentence. These things happen to everyone and usually mean nothing. But in certain...

No. It's not painful. The brain genuinely has no pain receptors not a small number, none. There's nothing inside the skull that registers a pain signal. And the scalp, which does have receptors, gets numbed with local anaesthetic before the first incision. So what...

Yes. And the cost is where most families immediately get stuck because what they find online is either too vague to be useful or too specific to apply to their actual situation. DBS isn't one thing with one price. It's a device cost, a surgical fee, hospital charges,...

The first thing to understand is that "DBS stopped working" usually means one of several very different things and which one it is determines entirely what happens next. Sometimes the device is fine and the settings just need adjustment. Sometimes the battery is...

No. It can't. And anyone telling you otherwise is giving you the wrong expectation going into surgery. Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition the dopamine-producing cells in the brain keep deteriorating regardless of whether a device is implanted or not....

No. It can't. And anyone telling you otherwise is giving you the wrong expectation going into surgery. Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition the dopamine-producing cells in the brain keep deteriorating regardless of whether a device is implanted or not....

It's a surgery. A small device similar in size to a cardiac pacemaker gets implanted under the skin near the collarbone. Thin wires run from it up into specific regions of the brain. Those wires deliver continuous electrical pulses that interrupt the faulty signals...

Nobody teaches you this. You get a diagnosis, someone hands you a referral, and suddenly you're expected to pick the person who'll operate on your brain or spine like you're ordering off a menu. Most people just go with whoever's available. That's not a knock on them...

Yes, he does. Patients fly in from the Gulf, East Africa, Southeast Asia, parts of Europe. Some come for surgery. Some just want a second opinion before they decide anything. The process itself isn't complicated. Most people from outside India just don't know where to...

You don't need to travel to Mumbai for a proper neurosurgical opinion. Booking an online consultation with Dr. Gurneet Singh Sawhney is straightforward. Call, WhatsApp, or email the clinic, share your scans beforehand, and you'll get a confirmed slot within 24 to 48...

Yes—neurological problems can exist even when your MRI or CT scan looks perfectly normal. A clean scan means there's no visible structural damage. It doesn't mean your nervous system is working the way it should. Dr. Gurneet Singh Sawhney, a leading neurosurgeon in...

Dementia does not necessarily occur genetically, but in some people, it can be more likely due to genetics. The majority of the cases related to dementia, such as those related to Alzheimer's disease, are as a result of aging, lifestyle habits, vascular conditions,...

Facial nerve pain often feels like electric shocks or stabbing sensations due to the way nerves transmit pain signals to the brain. When the trigeminal nerve, which controls sensation in the face, becomes irritated, compressed, or damaged, it sends abnormal signals to...

The brain relies on a continuous supply of oxygen-rich blood. When this blood flow is disrupted, brain tissue begins to suffer damage within minutes. A stroke may occur due to: A blocked blood vessel prevents blood flow to the brain A ruptured blood vessel is causing...

Young-onset Parkinson’s disease is a condition that affects individuals under 50, and it brings unique challenges when it comes to life expectancy. While it can be a difficult diagnosis, many people with young-onset Parkinson’s go on to lead fulfilling, long lives,...

Neurological disorders often begin with subtle, overlooked symptoms that can evolve over time. These early signs might seem unrelated to any serious conditions, but catching them early can make a significant difference in treatment and quality of life. The earlier you...

Brain aneurysms are abnormal bulges in the brain’s blood vessels. If left untreated, these aneurysms can rupture, leading to severe health consequences such as stroke, brain damage, or even death. While preventing a brain aneurysm entirely is not always possible,...

A mini-stroke, also known as a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), occurs when there is a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain. In elderly individuals, TIAs can be especially concerning, as they often signal an increased risk of a full-blown stroke. Dr. Gurneet...

A mini stroke, medically called a transient ischemic attack, is the body's early alert that a major stroke may be developing soon. A brief blockage in the brain stops oxygen flow for minutes. Even though symptoms fade quickly, the impact on health is serious. These...

Spinal surgery, whether for a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, or degenerative disc disease, can be life-changing. However, recovery can be challenging, and one common question patients ask is, “How long does it take to walk after spinal surgery?” Walking is an...

Lumbar fusion surgery is often recommended to treat serious spine issues like degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, or severe herniated discs. The procedure involves fusing two or more vertebrae together to eliminate motion in the spine and relieve pain. Though lumbar...

Parkinson's disease is a progressive condition affecting both the body and the mind. Stage 5 is the fifth and final stage of Parkinson's disease, where patients might be facing more severe problems with mobility, balance, and independence. But let us not forget that...

Craniotomy is a complex brain surgery that can bring great relief to patients suffering from tumors, trauma, or neurological conditions. But the recovery can be challenging. Side effects of craniotomy in the long term can differ from person to person depending upon...

Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) surgery is one of the most widely performed spine procedures for patients struggling with cervical spine disorders. It is often recommended when other conservative treatments fail to relieve pain, weakness, or...

Spinal fusion surgery is a major procedure, often used to address issues like spinal instability, degenerative conditions, or fractures. While the benefits of this surgery can significantly improve quality of life, recovery can be a long and nuanced process. Knowing...

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery is an advanced procedure for neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia. It involves implanting a device that sends electrical impulses to targeted brain areas, regulating abnormal activity and...

Our spine is the architectural marvel that supports our every move—walking, bending, even just sitting. When a spinal disc bulges or herniates, it can press on nerves, triggering pain that radiates through the back, legs, or buttocks. This discomfort doesn’t just...

A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a collection of blood trapped between the brain’s protective layers — the dura mater and arachnoid mater. It typically results from head injuries that tear veins, causing blood to pool and put pressure on the brain. While surgical drainage...