SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
Deep Brain Stimulation May Control Epileptic Seizures
from ABC News
Stephen Neiley's first seizure happened when he was 39 years old, while he was having dinner with his family. It would be far from his last. From then on, for the next 13 years, Neiley, a former San Diego contractor, would have a grand mal seizure ... every two to three days.
He would have petit mal seizures--in which one seems to freeze for a few seconds--every other day. Treatment with drugs did not work. He said he had surgery that removed about one-third of his brain tissue, but the seizures continued. Diagnosed with epilepsy, he returned to his hometown of Towanda, Pa.
... But Neiley, now 57, says an invasive and risky but promising procedure has given him his life back. Five years ago, he had a deep brain stimulation device implanted in his head by Dr. Michael Kaplitt at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. He said the device, normally associated with treatment for Parkinson's disease, has greatly reduced the seizures that had ruled his life.
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