Most people with epilepsy can control their seizures with medications called anti-convulsant or anti- seizure drugs.Seizures can be produced by electrical impulses from throughout the brain, called generalized seizures, or from a small area of the brain, called partial seizures. This creates over-excitement, somewhat like an electrical overload in the brain, leading to seizures. In people with epilepsy, this pattern is sometimes disrupted due either to an injury or the person's genetic make-up, causing brain cells to emit signals in an uncontrolled fashion. Brain cells communicate by sending electrical signals in an orderly pattern.The vagus nerve serves many organs and structures, including the larynx (voice box), lungs, heart and gastrointestinal tract. Other cranial nerves, like the vagus, have both motor and sensory functions. Some cranial nerves bring information from the senses (like touch or sight) to the brain (sensory) and some control muscles (motor). The vagus nerve has several important branches, including the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The result is difficulty swallowing ( dysphagia) and speaking (dysphonia). The voice is hoarse and nasal, and the vocal cord on the affected side is immobile. Complete interruption of the vagus nerve causes a characteristic syndrome in which the soft palate droops on the side where damage occurred, and the gag reflex is also lost on that side. It originates in the medulla oblongata, a part of the brain stem, and extends all the way down from the brain stem to the colon. The vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve. The vagus nerve also brings sensory information back to the brain from the ear, tongue, pharynx, and larynx. The vagus nerve is a nerve that supply nerve fibers to the pharynx (throat), larynx (voice box), trachea (windpipe), lungs, heart, esophagus, and intestinal tract, as far as the transverse portion of the colon. Long-term safety (25-year review in Sweden) study suggests that VNS has a complication rate of about 2% which means it’s a relatively safe procedure according to researchers. Headaches, migraine headaches and other problems have been studied in small clinical studies. Right sided cervical VNS has been used to treat heart failure in clinical trials. VNS treatments have been used to treat refractory epilepsy and to treat resistant depression.The benefits of VNS include a reduction in the frequency of seizures and/or less medication with anti- seizure drugs it also may help regulate depression symptoms.The risks of VNS include injury to the vagus nerve, nearby blood vessels (carotid artery, jugular vein), other bleeding problems (hematomas), allergic reaction and infection.Side effects usually occur only during nerve simulation, are mild and decrease over time.VNS is performed on the individual under general anesthesia the device, about the size of a silver dollar, is placed under the skin in the upper part of the chest with the connector wire run under the skin from the device to electrode attached to the vagus nerve and programmed according to the needs of the individual patient.When at home yoga, deep breathing exercises and/or medications fail to treat epilepsy, seizures, anxiety and/or depression, VNS therapy may be considered. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a technique that involves implanting a pacemaker-like device that generates pulse of electricity to stimulate vagus nerve.There are two vagus nerves on each side of your body that run from the brainstem to the abdomen. The vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve that supplies motor (muscle) nerve fibers to the throat, larynx, trachea, lungs, heart, esophagus and intestinal tract it also sends sensory information back to the brain from the ear, tongue, pharynx and larynx. Vagus (vagal) nerve stimulation (VNS) definition and facts
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