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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 heart and intestinal tract. They are the longest nerves in the body, and affect swallowing, speech, intestinal function, and circulation. The vagus nerves also connect to parts of the brain involved in seizures. In some seizure disorders, electrical stimulation of the vagus nerves may relieve symptoms.

Reviewed last on: 3/29/2009
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)

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