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'Star Trek' Headband Could A Boon For Migraine Sufferers

by VR Sreeraman on Feb 8 2013 7:59 PM

Scientists have developed a band, resembling like a device from 'Star trek,' which they claim to prevent migraines when worm across the forehead for twenty minutes a day.
The device known as Cefaly - which "looks like something out of Star Trek" - delivers electric impulses to the supraorbital nerve that controls sensation in and around the eye, the Daily Mail reported.

A study found that those who used it were suffering about a third fewer debilitating headaches after a couple of months.

The number of people whose migraines were reduced by half or more were also tripled, according to the findings.

Professor Jean Schoenen said: "The device consists of a thin silver band that looks like something out of Star Trek."

"It is hooked over the ears and worn across the forehead like futuristic sunglasses. Patients don it once daily for 20 minutes," Schoenen said.

A similar technique has worked on patients with pain in other parts of the body such as the back.

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It involves connecting the device to the nerve responsible and sending an electronic pulse to prevent it from causing pain.

Prof Schoenen, of Liege University in Belgium, was also pleased there were no side effects from the treatment.

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He said that the results are exciting because they were similar to those of drugs that are used to prevent migraine.

But he added that often those drugs have many side effects and frequently they are bad enough that people decide to quit taking the drug.

The findings are published in the journal Neurology by the American Academy of Neurology.

Source-ANI


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