VNS Therapy

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VNS Therapy

• Or Pushing the Happy Button
• Ajai Raj

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What is VNS?

• Vagus Nerve Stimulation
• Uses a stimulator implanted under the skin of the
  chest to send an electric current to the vagus
  nerve, located in the neck, at programmable
  intervals
• FDA-approved for treating certain types of
  epilepsy and depression

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Pros

• Effective for treating certain types of epilepsy
  and depression, especially where medication and
  therapy have been ineffective
• You get to be a cyborg, if youre into that kind
  of thing
• Absence of typical anti-depressant side effects
  such as memory loss, weight gain, sexual
  problems, sleep problems, appetite changes, or
  unsavory interactions with food and drugs

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Cons

• Possibility of botched surgery a malfunctioning
  electrical device wired inside your body
• Possible side effects voice change, hoarseness,
  cough, neck pain, breathing problems, difficulty
  swallowing, sore throat, pinsnneedles
• Long term effects are unknowndespite FDA
  approval, still essentially experimental
• No one knows how it works, exactlybut
  antidepressants are the same way, to an extent

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Controversy

• Despite approval from the American Psychiatric
  Association and the FDA, many scientists feel the
  device has not proven its worth the clinical
  trials which led to its approval remain somewhat
  controversial
• FDA chief overruled the committee 3 times to
  approve the device
• Scandal editor of Neuropharmacolagy, a medical
  journal, co-authored a favorable article about
  the procedure he and others whose names appeared
  on the article had financial ties to Cyberonics,
  who makes the deviceon top of which the article
  itself was ghost-written by a medical writer
  hired by Cyberonics
• Cyberonics in trouble with Feds over stock option
  irregularities (as of September 2006)
• Public Health Watch, a citizen advocacy group,
  pressuring Medicare not to offer coverage for the
  device (also as of September 2006)

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Sign Me Up!

• Not so fast to qualify for the procedure,
  patients must have a severe, chronic case of
  depression and have tried four anti-depressant
  medications, or have a form of epilepsy that
  similarly does not respond well to meds
• The device itself is 12,000 the surgery to have
  it implanted is about 15,000 the insurance
  community hasnt warmed to the device just yet

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Sources

• http//www.healthyplace.com/Communities/depression
  /treatment/vns/index.asp
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve_stimulati
  on
• http//www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/18/2307/
  vagus-nerve/1/
• http//www.psychiatrictimes.com/Depressive-Disorde
  rs/showArticle.jhtml?checkSitepsychiatricTimesar
  ticleID196601630
• www.cyberonics.com