Treatment of epilepsy
The vagus nerves branch off the brain on either side of the head and travel down the neck, along the esophagus to the intestinal tract. They are the longest nerves in the body, and affect swallowing and speech. The vagus nerves also connect to parts of the brain involved in seizures. In many seizures disorders, electrical stimulation of the vagus nerves may afford relief of symptoms.
Review Date: 03/29/2009
Reviewed By: Reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.,
and David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of
General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
School of Medicine. Previously reviewed by Daniel B. Hoch, PhD, MD,
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School,
Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital. (6/19/08)
