Half of patients with the device experience a 50 percent reduction in seizures over 18 months, the time it normally takes for the device to be fully effective. They feel better almost immediately. Over time, we hope that their seizure activity will be reduced even more. One advantage of the device is that its effectiveness does not diminish over time, a problem with drug therapy. Johnson's epilepsy, for example, has been controlled for short periods of time with drugs, but the medication eventually stopped working.
Frequent seizures can control a patient's life.
The new device offers hope for a higher quality of life to patients with uncontrollable epilepsy. Since then, more than 1,000 patients in 24 countries have accumulated more than 2,000 patient years of experience using the device. It is programmed to deliver intermittent electrical pulses to the vagus nerve. For example, the device could be set to be on for 30 seconds, then off for five minutes 24 hours a day. If a patient feels a seizure coming on, he can wave a magnet across the device for an additional dose of stimulation.