Treatment Prospects: Vagus Nerve Stimulation

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24255953

Vagas nerve stimulation with high frequency sounds induced significant improvement in 4/10 patients. Unaffected patients were on neuromodulatory drugs that may have inhibited response.

More exciting than this Epub ahead of print was that they did this in rats and we're able to ameliorate tinnitus. That article got published in Nature.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21228773

This technology has possible use in chronic pain as well which is a huge money market and could possibly help drive funding. I just happened across this but thought it showed promise.

 

Sweeheet !

 

There's another thread on this somewhere I'm pretty sure.

I think this was one of the first possible treatments I stumbled upon when I first got tinnitus.

Only problem with this treatment is that it's highly invasive, they basically wrap a piece of wire around your vagus nerve. I spent a bit of time on a forum specifically for vagus nerve stimulation (for epilepsy I think) and I was concerned by the amount of patients who had run into significant (and scary) side effects after having the procedure done. Apparently these side effects don't always go away once the procedure is reversed. Mind you, this while a while ago and I haven't done much research since, so take what I've mentioned with a grain of salt.

So I would remain optimistic but like with any new medical treatment, I wouldn't recommend anyone rush into a trial unless they are well aware of the risks involved.

 

I downloaded the study. Small pilot study to see feasibility of a large randomized placebo controlled trial. It was well done. They used subjective and objective measures. All subjects had chronic , severe tinnitus, were patients at a Belgium tinnitus clinic and had failed all non-invasive therapies offered by the clinic. All drug free patients had significant improvement in both subjective measures (multiple standard tinnitus indexes like the tinnitus handicap index) and objective measure (minimum masking volume). Effects persisted for at least two months after therapy.
This is a serious treatment as it requires the implantation of a Vagas nerve electrode and stimulator. However this technology is already purchasable and FDA approved for epilepsy and severe depression.

So basically this produced clinically significant results in a small drug free group of severe chronic tinnitus sufferers that persisted after tberapy. And all components of the system already exist and are FDA approved for other conditions. It would suck to have to have implantable devices but if it cured this damn ring I'd seriously consider it.

 

I think with more and more research going into chemically inhibiting the cerebral cause of tinnitus, these retraining devices will become old news.

 

@Nich VNS is currently quite popular in the clinical trial community. All totaled sixty-seven studies exist, and twenty-six are currently active, unknown, or not yet recruiting. They are using VNS for a variety of procedures--from refractory epilepsy to chronic cluster headaches.

But this procedure is really invasive. When completed, moreover, I've read they can't remove everything. Specifically, the clip they use stays in your body. (I believe I read this in the current thread.)

To me, a better choice would be the tVNS therapy, which is newer but might yield similar results in time. In addition, I am hopeful that tRNS might be utlized in a few years. Its yielded much better results than the other noninvasive neuromodulation techniques, especially rTMS.

See, for example, these references:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24391599

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tvns-pilot-study-for-tinnitus.5035/
​

And, of course, UT at Dallas is still recruiting members if you're interested. If you do try it, please keep us posted!

http://www.utdallas.edu/~sxv140030/clinical_trial/​

​

 

Thanks @jazz
I didn't know all of this was going on. Interesting. And, I agree that a non-invasive solution would be far superior.

 

I would be curious to know what happened with the drug user group? And did it say what drugs they were currently being prescribed?

 

very interesting i pray that this work keeping faith in this new trial.
Thank you to all
so much for such great Information!! God Bless

 

It would suck if it were anti depressants that effected the study cause thats like the number 1 drugs perscribed!!!

 

I tend to automatically view pharm therapies in a cost/benefit light. Benefit = efficacy; cost = side effects. When I first read about vagus nerve stimulation, it sounded very safe and side-effect free. However, there are risks associated with the procedure itself (rare) and more troubling, a good number of potential side effects (some of which can be lasting) to stimulating the vagus nerve.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/vagus-nerve-stimulation/basics/risks/prc-20020476

 

I applied for this study and never heard back from them. Good thing? Bad thing? Depends on which post I read.

 

Hey @II Packy II !

Any news on this? You're supposed to be in their next trial if I'm not mistaken?

 

@Sleepwalking

Thank you for the link! Yes, the side effects of vagus nerve stimulation are often not mentioned or minimized. Perhaps, this is because only seriously ill people would consider such an invasive treatment.

That said, I do know that the current for tinnitus is far less than that used for epilepsy. This means the side effects would also be reduced. But I would wait for a larger study before assessing the risk/reward benefits.

 

I visited the clinic but was denied for entry due to not having attempted TRT. The lead audiologist Shawna Jackson is highly intelligent however and explains things far better than anyone this far.

 

Once the transponder is installed it is in your body for life whether it works or not. This is due to the electrodes fusing around the nerve tissue. I read about a guy who tried this years ago and the battery went bad and he had to be opened up again to have it replaced. He also had problems setting off detectors at airports and such. I think that it has potential, its just so invasive and as technology progresses this will probably become a relic once hair cell regeneration hits the market.

 

I Just found this seems pretty interesting:
http://www.newscientist.com/article...your-brain-to-stop-tinnitus.html#.U-PrneN_smS

 

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I found another link as the link was not allowing the page to view. http://www.dailynewsen.com/technolo...ins-your-brain-to-stop-tinnitus-h2526601.html

 

I think I saw this research here on another thread.

 

oh i was not aware of that, will do in the future! this might have been posted before, i did not check before posting, regardless it's pretty interesting. there seems to be a lot of research going on for T lately!

 

Hi
Here is the company website
http://www.microtransponder.com/?page_id=35

 

So how many participated in these tests?

 

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01962558 - This study is currently recruiting participants it says

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/...implant_retrains_your_brain_to_stop_tinnitus/

There's a thread on Reddit were someone from the VNS team under the username xenosIX was participating and answering questions.

What I found interesting about it was that he/she states that this maybe also could treat H.

 

Thank you, always good to get info from the 'coalface' rather than second/third hand etc

 

Great information! Thanks @lapidus!

 

Are there still some hope about this treatment? Havent heard so much lately..

 

In my humble opinion this treatment is easily the best option to give us any relief within the next couple of years.....

Scientific Explanation of VNS Paired...

 

Is this the same as "cortical stimulation for the treatment of tinnitus"?

My health insurance does list it as not insured.

Nobody mentioned it, no neurologist or ENT.

I found it on the insurance papers when I went to Belgium Antwerp / Ghent hospital.

They have a contract with Dutch health insurance, but they list what is / what is not insured.

Papers are in Dutch, look like a contract.

 

No, it is not the same.

I can translate it for you if you want.

this study of Microtransponder is in trail phase....