Khosro Hekmat
Can a stimulus at my ear quieten my legs? The vagus nerve connects the brainstem with heart, lungs and gut, and at exactly one place it comes up under the skin: in a small hollow of the outer ear. There it can be stimulated with a clip, without an operation and at low risk. To people whose medicines have failed, that sounds like the answer. This volume says what this nerve can really do. It shows the good reasons for thinking of it in restless legs - the over-aroused autonomic nervous system, the blood pressure that jumps with every leg movement, the inflammation trail - and sets the one available study beside them. Its improvement is exactly the size of this condition’s sham effect, and the objective movement recording did not move at all. What that means is explained here, along with the question of what you are actually buying when you buy a vagus device. WHAT IS IN THE BOOK- How a nerve in the abdomen can be reached through the ear- Whether the ear clip is the same as the device used in epilepsy- The autonomic nervous system in RLS, and the blood pressure at every leg movement- The inflammation trail and the restraining role of the vagus nerve- The only study on ear stimulation and restless legs- Why an improvement of seven points is not proof- Why stimulation at the knee entered a guideline and stimulation at the ear did not- Whether ear acupuncture is the same thing, and what you get when you buy a device WHO THIS BOOK IS FORFor patients considering a vagus device, for everyone regarded as impossible to control with medication, and for anyone who wants to weigh up the promises made for stimulation methods. ABOUT THE SERIESVolume 46 of 52 in the book series on restless legs syndrome, part 'Device-Based Treatments and Research'. Every volume can be read on its own. The statements in this volume rest on 186 professional sources, each one listed individually in the reference section.
