A British study found that surgery is more effective in treating Parkinson's disease symptoms than medication alone. The results were published in the online version of The Lancet Neurology on Thursday.

More than 300 patients received an electric current deep in the brain by way of electrodes. The surgery involves inserting a wire with electrodes into one of three areas of the brain. The wire is connected to a neurostimulator -- not unlike a pacemaker -- which is implanted under the skin of the chest, according to the Lancet report. The unit sends electrical impulses along the wire and into the brain, activating areas that control movement, which blocks abnormal nerve signals that cause tremor and disease symptoms.

This type of therapy is called deep brain stimulation.

The 366 patients in this study were placed into two groups: surgery and medication or medication only. Follow-up after a year found that patients who underwent surgery reported a "better quality of life," according to a BBC report. But researchers warn that this isn't a cure for Parkinson's disease, merely a treatment.

It is unclear how the mechanism that delivers electrical stimulation actually restores function in the motor system, the researchers wrote. The researchers are now looking at how deep brain stimulation works and using this information to develop better treatments for Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders.

Medication to treat Parkinson's disease symptoms is expensive. It can cost an individual an average of $2,500 per year. Therapeutic surgery can cost up to $100,000, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF).

Approximately one million Americans suffer from Parkinson's disease, a number greater than the combined sufferers of multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and Lou Gehrig's disease, according to PDF.

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