Special electronic device is surgically inserted and sutured under the skin on the patient's neck. Is applied to close a specific nerve, called the vagus. This has, inter alia, responsible for the transmission of signals from internal organs, and also controls involuntary activities such as heartbeat or digestion.
The device is triggered during the day at intervals and during this time there is a stimulation of the vagus nerve using a special magnet.
Activation of nerve aims to regulate the immune system is hyperactive in rheumatoid arthritis.
All this causes the decline of the disease activity and significantly reduces the number of pathological cells infiltrating into the affected joints (they ensure typical and often significant pain and joint deformation).
Wide use
Vagus nerve stimulation has long been used in the treatment of other diseases - can mention refractory epilepsy, which responds poorly to conventional therapy with drugs or severe depression . At present, but a great novelty just testing the same principle even stimulation treatment of systemic inflammatory diseases.
Less side effects
Indisputable advantage Electrical stimulation is much better "targeting" - the target of specific neural circuits which do not behave as they should. Conventional drugs compared this method often affect multiple systems in the body, even those that are functioning normally. Bioelektronika, therefore, implantable pacemakers, should thus limit the possible side effects that often occur with prolonged use conventional medicines.
Long time run
Treatment effect electrical stimulation appears to be instantaneous and was observed in more than half of the people tested. For patients, this solution is very pleasant, because few people like the prospect of daily use conventional medicines over the next few decades. Bioelektronika - special term denoting collectively implantable devices - are the only hope for patients with arthritis, for example, but also for individuals suffering from chronic inflammation of the bowel, hypertension or diabetes. However, despite the fact that ongoing testing stimulator apparently it works, it will take a while before this method becomes available to the public.
Source: Rheumatic nemoci.cz