Medtronic Inc. presents an electronic devise for migraine treatment which significantly reduces headaches.
There are about 28 million Americans suffering from migraine. Most of headaches occur especially among women. These patients are taking prescription drugs to ease pain, but from 3 to 14% of patients who suffer from chronic migraine, don't really benefit from the drugs. Therefore, the new device comes to ease pain especially for those who suffer from chronic conditions.
Medtronic examined 61 patients with chronic migraine. These patients were having headaches 15 days in a month of and were having no pain improvement when taking traditional drugs. 44 participants were given electronic devices, which were implanted on neck. Devices are sending electrical impulses to central nervous system and easing headache.
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Twenty eight patients with devices were allowed to control devices themselves according to pain frequency. 39% of these patients experienced 50% improvement in pain condition. Sixteen patients with devices were not allowed to control electronic devices themselves. Only 6% of these patients experienced headache improvement. The other� seventeen participants were not given devices at all, they were just taking traditional medicine for migraine treatment, and none of them experienced 50% pain reduction.
"Stimulation with magnetic pulses from the portable TMS device proved effective for the migraine patients," said Dr. Yousef Mohammad from Ohio State's Medical Center. "Because of the lack of adverse events in this trial and the established safety of the TMS device, this is a promising treatment for migraines with aura. This sets the stage for future studies in migraines without aura."
Written by Ruzanna Haroutiunyan
This page is updated on April 27, 2013.
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