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People suffering from rheumatoid arthritis have been given new hope after some patients fitted with electrical implants reported they had become “pain free”.
The implants, which are embedded in the necks of patients and can be turned on and off at will, work by stimulating the vagus nerve which runs down the body from the brain to the spleen.
Researchers in the Netherlands, working with the British drugs company GlaxoSmithKline, said that more than half of a group of 20 patients who took part in the study experienced significantly fewer symptoms of arthritic joint pain during the trial.
The implant is a small pacemaker-like device implanted under the skin that sends electrical signals to electrodes surgically inserted into the neck adjacent to the vagus nerve, which scientists believe is involved in regulating that activity of the immune system through the spleen.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...ts-leave-some-patients-pain-free-9941001.html
The implants, which are embedded in the necks of patients and can be turned on and off at will, work by stimulating the vagus nerve which runs down the body from the brain to the spleen.
Researchers in the Netherlands, working with the British drugs company GlaxoSmithKline, said that more than half of a group of 20 patients who took part in the study experienced significantly fewer symptoms of arthritic joint pain during the trial.
The implant is a small pacemaker-like device implanted under the skin that sends electrical signals to electrodes surgically inserted into the neck adjacent to the vagus nerve, which scientists believe is involved in regulating that activity of the immune system through the spleen.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...ts-leave-some-patients-pain-free-9941001.html