Education
NEUROLOGICAL SEMINARS
May 5, 2009
Senator Flanagan Joins the Leslie Munzer Neurological Institute of Long Island in Recognizing April as National Parkinson’s Awareness Month
Educational and Advocacy Campaign in Recognition of
April as National Parkinson’s Awareness Month- April 30, 2009
Sunrise Senior Living of Smithtown, NY
Pictured l to r: Patricia Carley, director of Community Relations Sunrise of Smithtown; Jovanna Little, Mt(Ret.),CFRE, executive director, LMNI; John Flanagan, NYS senator; and Brian Snyder, MD, neurosurgeon
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY— Senator John J. Flanagan (2nd Senate District) recently joined the Leslie Munzer Neurological Institute of Long Island in recognizing April as National Parkinson’s Awareness Month at a free community seminar on new treatments available to individuals afflicted with Parkinson’s disease. Sunrise Senior Living of Smithtown hosted the event.
The guest speaker was Brian J. Snyder, M.D., of Neurological Surgery, P.C., and Neurosurgeon at Winthrop University Hospital’s Movement Disorder Program. Dr. Snyder explained that when medications fail to control or reduce symptoms or cause debilitating side effects, surgical treatment to areas deep within the brain via Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) may present another option for select Parkinson’s patients. “Deep Brain Stimulation is an exciting and innovative technology that allows us to modulate the neurocircuitry of the brain and achieve great results with low risk,” said Dr. Snyder. “Not every patient is a candidate for DBS, and every patient should be thoroughly evaluated by their medical team to determine the best course of treatment.” Deep brain stimulation is one of the fastest growing treatments for Parkinson’s disease in the world today. It involves a surgically implanted medical device, much like a pacemaker, that delivers electrical stimulation to very specific areas in the brain and is proven to improve motor function in Parkinson’s disease patients.
Dr. Snyder is a neurosurgeon who specializes in the treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, tremor and dystonia, as well as seizure disorders and epilepsy. Dr. Snyder is an expert in deep brain stimulation (DBS) utilizing microelectrode recording, vagal nerve stimulation (VNS), and procedures for mapping, recording, and identifying seizure foci in the brain and the surgical resection of these foci. Dr. Snyder has published and presented extensively on fields in functional neurosurgery. His papers and presentations include works on surgery for primary dystonia, seizure outcomes associated with cavernous malformations, deep brain stimulation for depression and Parkinson’s disease as well as gamma knife treatment for tremor.
Senator John J. Flanagan attended the event and presented a certificate to Jovanna little, CFRE, executive director of the Leslie Munzer Neurological Institute of Long Island, recognizing April as Parkinson’s Awareness Month.
For information on upcoming community seminars, please contact Jovanna Little, CFRE, executive director, Leslie Munzer Neurological Institute, at 631-473-1800 or via e-mail at jlittle@lmni.org.
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