Vagus Nerve Stimulation: A Noninvasive Treatment to Improve the Health of Gulf Veterans with Gulf War Illness
Abstract
Gulf War Illness [GWI] is a condition occurring in some veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. To date there is no specific treatment for it. A major complaint of veteran subjects with GWI is widespread pain and achiness. Currently some drugs are available to treat these symptoms, but these treatments have three major drawbacks - they don't work on all patients; their effect often does not last more than a few months; and the side effects they produce are often so bad that patients stop taking them. The purpose of this study is to test a new method of test a new method of treating the widespread pain complaint of Gulf Veterans with GWI using a hand-held neuro-stimulator device that activates a nerve in the neck called the vagus. The goal of this study is to determine whether the active device (which does stimulate the vagus nerve) reduces widespread pain in veterans with GWI in comparison to using an inactive device (which does not stimulate the vagus nerve). We will also test to see if the active device improves migraine which commonly occurs with widespread pain in GWI.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1070363
Entities
People
- Benjamin Natelson
- Sarah Khan