Seizure Reduction WITHOUT Surgery

Again, this is an article I read for class and thought it was interesting.  I know a few people who suffer from seizures and I think that this is a step in the right direction towards reducing them without surgery or other more hands-on/expensive approaches. 

The article I read this week is titled "New Device Reduces Seizures, No Surgery Required" and was originally published online by NPR.  This article summarizes an experimental device that delivers electrical pulses to the forehead and their way of controlling epileptic seizures.  This device stimulates a nerve called the trigeminal nerve, located just below the skin covering the eyebrows, and the electrical signals that are given off by the device follow the trigeminal nerve to the areas of the brain that seizures are supposed to start.  The main neurologist, Christopher DeGiorgio, working on this technique says that this approach "could offer an alternative or enhancement to treatment with drugs" (1).  Medications are usually given to help reduce these seizures; however, they have side effects sometimes relating to people's mood, weight, thought processes, etc.  Therefore, instead of turning to medication as the solution to epileptic seizures, triggering the trigeminal nerve with electrical impulses may be a better alternative.

Statistics were given regarding Americans with epilepsy and tat there are about 3 million people that suffer from them and for over one-third of them, drugs are not strong enough and they need additional help.  A study of 50 people suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy showed that 40% of them (20 people) that underwent nerve stimulating treatment had a significant decrease in the number of seizures they experienced.  The main selling points of this device are the lack of side effects, "it doesn't require surgery, and it is very easy to use" (1).  For most people who use this treatment method, they put two gel pads on their eyebrows and feel a slight tingling sensation; which is nothing compared to the possible side effects with drugs and surgery.  Researchers believe that electrical impulses can almost "act like a sort of pacemaker in their brain, heading off their chaotic electrical storms that cause epileptic seizures" (1).  The article also explains that this is not the first time that researchers have used electrical pulses to prevent seizures and other problems in the human body.  Though this device has not been approved by the FDA currently, a device was approved in 2005.  The device that was approved in 2005 stimulates the vagus nerve, but to use this device a patient would need surgery so the device could be implanted into the collar bone.  Not only will trigeminal nerve stimulation help people with epileptic seizures, but Christopher De Giorgio also believes that it relieves symptoms of depression in people with epilepsy as well.

Just thought I would post this information because I know a couple people who suffer from epilepsy and I think that this treatment would be something that they would be interested in.  People can begin to develop epilepsy later in life also, so please stay informed about this topic if you know anyone who could use this treatment!!
 

(1) Hamilton, Jon. "New Device Reduces Seizures, No Surgery Required". NPR Online. National Public Radio, 27 July 2011. Web. 5 August 2011. http:www.npr.org/2011/07/27/138619259/new-device-reduces-seizures-no-surgery-required.
(2) Shier, David, Jackie Butler, and Ricki Lewis. Hole's Human Anatomy & Physiology. 12th ed. Dubuque: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.