Turkey: Clinic named Parkinson's 'center of excellence'

By Furkan Gencoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - International healthcare company U.S.-based Abbott agreed to work with an Istanbul-based medical center for Parkinson's Disease as a "Center of Excellence", for its performance in the field.

The Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center (PARMER) of the Medipol University Hospital began operating as a Center of Excellence and Training in Turkey after Abbott General Manager George Politis and Ozer Koca, chairman of the Medipol Education and Health Group signed the agreement on Jan. 3.

"PARMER was opened in September 2018, under the Medipol Education and Health Group. For the first time in Turkey, there is a center that only concentrates on the diagnosis and treatment of movement disorders, with Parkinson's coming first, and it leads the studies in this field," said the hospital's official website.

It added that the clinic supports treatments of multiple disorders besides Parkinson's, including Huntington’s disease, Tourette's syndrome and Wilson's disease.

Over the last three years, PARMER has attracted attention in Turkey and its neighboring countries, performing the greatest amount of deep brain stimulation surgeries, operated in Medipol University Hospital.

PARMER has become a frequent destination of Neurology and Neurosurgery specialists from Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans and Turkic nations for receive hands-on training especially on implanting and programming brain pacemakers as well as all other issues about movement disorders.

Over 30 years, PARMER, which has conducted more than 800 deep brain stimulation surgeries and over 1,300 movement disorder operations, has taken firm steps towards becoming a pioneer in the field in Turkey.

PARMER also stands out with its different workshops developed to provide information seminars for patients and their relatives on balance and speech rehabilitation, psychological testing and support services and patient socialization.

On April 11, 2018, World Parkinson's Day, PARMER won the first Guinness World Record in the field of healthcare in Turkey, for bringing together 329 people who received deep brain stimulation surgeries at Medipol University Hospital.