26 | HealthLinksSC.com • VAGUS NERVE STIMULATION. Long used to treat epileptic seizures, VNS utilizes an implanted device under the skin that sends electrical pulses to one side of the vagus nerve, one of the 12 cranial nerves in the body. Because this large nerve carries messages to areas of the brain that regulate mood and sleep, it is implicated in depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions. “Most people feel nothing when the device delivers a pulse, which usually occurs once every five minutes,” Dr. Short said. “VNS was FDA-approved for adults with chronic recurring depression.” • DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION. DBS is an invasive, surgical therapy that involves implanting electrodes in specifically targeted brain areas during open brain surgery to modify disorders in signaling. When successful, this method can relieve sufferers like Hasson from movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. Dr. Short said, however, that while all of these methods represent light-year advancements toward curing a host of human illnesses, “the research is only at the beginning.” “DBS does not fully resolve the symptoms of Parkinson’s or other conditions,” he said. “But it can decrease a patient’s need for medications and improve quality of life.” So far, based on estimates by the National Institutes of Health, more than 160,000 patients worldwide have undergone DBS for a variety of neurological and non-neurological conditions. And with Hasson as a prime example, those numbers – and DBS treatments – are likely to be the wave of a very near future. “Do not be afraid of deep brain stimulation,” Hasson said. “It is a life-changing procedure.”
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