New device = new hope?
A new device uses a magnetic pulse to disrupt and stave off headaches
THE debilitating pain caused by migraines, the splitting headaches suffered by millions of people, can be eliminated using a handheld device that “zaps” the condition as it kicks in, a study suggests.
Patients treated with the experimental device, which is held against the back of the head and emits a quick magnetic pulse, have reported significant improvements.
The pulse has been found to trigger an electric current in neurons in the brain, preventing the initial “electrical storm” from developing into a full-blown migraine.
A team of American scientists, based at Ohio State University Medical Centre, will present findings from their research today at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Los Angeles. In one study carried out by the group, more than two thirds of patients treated with the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation device reported having either no pain or only mild pain two hours after treatment. Less than half of the placebo group reported similar pain levels.
More than 80 per cent did not experience pain when subjected to noise, and 64 per cent did not have an adverse reaction to bright light. The majority of the group with the device said that they could continue to work with only mild irritation after two hours. Only half of the control group said the same.
The device, which is made by a Californian company called Neuralieve, is designed to interrupt the aura phase of the migraine, the initial period of electrical activity in the brain, before it leads to headaches.
MY REACTION:
Bring it on. I want one.
THE debilitating pain caused by migraines, the splitting headaches suffered by millions of people, can be eliminated using a handheld device that “zaps” the condition as it kicks in, a study suggests.
Patients treated with the experimental device, which is held against the back of the head and emits a quick magnetic pulse, have reported significant improvements.
The pulse has been found to trigger an electric current in neurons in the brain, preventing the initial “electrical storm” from developing into a full-blown migraine.
A team of American scientists, based at Ohio State University Medical Centre, will present findings from their research today at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Los Angeles. In one study carried out by the group, more than two thirds of patients treated with the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation device reported having either no pain or only mild pain two hours after treatment. Less than half of the placebo group reported similar pain levels.
More than 80 per cent did not experience pain when subjected to noise, and 64 per cent did not have an adverse reaction to bright light. The majority of the group with the device said that they could continue to work with only mild irritation after two hours. Only half of the control group said the same.
The device, which is made by a Californian company called Neuralieve, is designed to interrupt the aura phase of the migraine, the initial period of electrical activity in the brain, before it leads to headaches.
MY REACTION:
Bring it on. I want one.
posted by Ron King at 9:46 AM
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