WHAT IS CRANIAL ELECTROTHERAPY STIMULATION?
Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) is the application of low-level pulsed electrical currents (usually less than 1 milliampere) applied to the head for medical and/or psychological purposes. There is now better than 20 years of medical experience with CES in America. Presently, its use requires a prescription by a licensed health practitioner in the United States. It is available without a prescription throughout the rest of the world.
What's interesting is that "the rest of the world" has been definitively curing people of alcohol and drug addiction with this astonishing little device, yet the USFDA refuses to allow anyone in the US to make such claims here in the States. That's patently foolish.
As well, patients in Europe, Asia, Canada, and elsewhere who suffer from chronic pain, anxiety, depression and insomnia have attained extraordinarily effective benefits from the brain tuner. Yet, no claims can be made in the States regarding these benefits.
The personal, financial, industrial, and societal losses that we incur because of drugs and alcohol is beyond computation. In dollar terms alone, the losses run into the billions each year. That many people have been quickly and permanently cured of desire for alcohol or drugs after using this machine means little or nothing to the FDA: no claims for curing addiction may be legally made in the United States regarding the CES brain tuner. Who knows how many years it will be before Americans get to glean the benefits of such an "addiction zapper?"
Cranial electrotherapy stimulation has also been known by many other names. "Transcranial electrotherapy (TCET), "Neuroelectric therapy"(NET), alpha sleep, electroanalgesia, electronarcosis and the original electrosleep are just a few of the more
common terms that have referred to the same therapy.
Cranial electrotherapy stimulation was first called electrosleep because it was thought to induce sleep. Rabinovich, a Russian, is given credit for making the first claim for electrical treatment of insomnia in 1914. In 1957, in the U.S.S.R., Anan'ev published the first paper on CES. The first book, simply titled Electrosleep, was published a year later by Gilyarovski. This generated a high degree of interest in the then-known Eastern Block countries and CES was 5001) adopted as a treatment modality.
In 1959, Obrosow reviewed the CES literature and published the first American paper on CES. By 1966 the first International Symposium on Electrotherapeutic Sleep and Electroanesthesia was held in Austria. The use of CES had spread worldwide by the late 1960's when animal studies of CES began in the U.S. at the University of Tennessee, and at what is now the University of Wisconsin Medical School. These were soon followed by human clinical trials at the University of Texas Medical School in San Antonio, the University of Mississippi Student Counseling Center and the University of Wisconsin Medical School.
The most comprehensive review of the research in CES published to date is a chapter by Ray B. Smith, Ph.D. in the book, Neural Stimulation, published in 1985. Dr. Smith has been researching CES since 1972. He concluded, "There are 40 studies of CES readily available in the U.S. in which the dependent variable is reliable. When these are examined alone it becomes apparent that CES is effective in alleviating symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia...CES appears effective as a treatment for withdrawal in the chemically dependent person...Other promising areas of treatment are in hypergastric acidity and migraine headaches." Dr. Smith adds, "CES appears to be safe, with no harm or negative side effects having been reported to date in controlled studies...Finally, while one usually assumes some placebo effect from a treatment as dramatic as this, none has been reported in studies controlled for this effect."
Harvard Scientists Apparently Love The Brain Tuner
Scientists at Harvard have recently analyzed all the literature on CES worldwide, and have also found it to be an effective therapy although they are holding their findings confidential until their results are published.
Open marketing of. CES devices began in the 1970's in the U.S. for the treatment of anxiety, depression and insomnia. Several thousand Americans are treated with CES annually by thousands of doctors and it is estimated that more than 50,000 people in the U.S. own CES devices which have been prescribed for home use.
NOT ONE ADVERSE EFFECT of CES Brain Tuner!
No adverse effects or contraindications have been found from the use of CES, either in the U.S. or in other parts of the world. As with all electrical devices, caution is advised during pregnancy and for patients with a demand-type pacemaker. In addition, it is recommend that patients not operate complex machinery or drive automobiles during and shortly after a CES treatment.
In addition to the usual claims for anxiety, depression and insomnia, CES has been researched for many other conditions. Favorable results have been reported in the literature for labor, epilepsy, glossalgia, hypertension, spinal cord injuries, chronic pain, arthritis, cerebral atherosclerosis, eczema, dental pain, asthma, ischemic heart disease, stroke, motion sickness, digestive disorders as well as various addictive disorders including alcohol, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana abuse.
Since we know that pain is a complex process involving the brain, it makes sense to add CES to the treatment of most pain patients. In fact, in many cases it is all that is needed to produce significant long-term pain relief.
Inducing Happiness by Electricity?
Cranial electrotherapy stimulation is believed to stimulate the production of endorphins, the natural drug produced by the human brain that makes us feel very happy. It probably also affects the hypothalamus causing changes in the hypothalamic neurohormonal regulatory mechanisms and the reticular formation of the brain stem. The reticular activating system is involved in a myriad of behavioral expressions from alertness to sleep. This "attentional center" plays an important integrative role in the functioning of mind and body.
Cranial electrotherapy stimulation devices are generally similar in size and appearance to standard transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators (TENS), but produce very different wave1orms. Standard milliampere-current TENS devices must never be applied transcranially. CES electrodes can be placed bitemporally, bilaterally in the hollow behind the ears just anterior to the mastoid processes, or clipped to the earlobes. This depends on the device being used.
Most CES devices produce a pulse repetition rate (PAR) of 100 Hertz (Hz) which was what the original Russian devices used. Some produce a PAR as low as 0.5, or as high as 15,000 Hz. The current is usually increased by the patient until a mild tingling sensation is felt at the electrode site, or a slight vertigo (dizziness) is experienced. It is then adjusted back down to a comfortable level below that which produces vertigo or an unpleasant feeling of electrical current. It may take a few minutes before the current needs to be reduced.
CES Brain Tuner Treatment Time
A large proportion of people who have treated themselves successfully with this method use a treatment time of 20 to 40 minutes is best, daily or every other day.
Immediately after a CES treatment, patients most often report a notable level of relaxation. Some people feel somewhat inebriated for the first few minutes. It is a pleasant and very comfortable sensation. After several minutes to hours, the light-headed feelings usually disappear, the relaxed state remains and a profound sense of alertness is achieved.
This relaxed/alert state will usually remain for an average of 12 to 72 hours after the first few treatments and then becomes cumulative from a series of treatments. Most patients relate feeling more relaxed, less distressed, while their minds remain alert and even more focused on mental tasks. They generally sleep better and report improved concentration along with heightened states of general well-being.
Fix The Blame, or Fix The Problem
MisterShortcut and Dr. Cohen agree that it is high time for the FDA to correct its error. The enormity of impact is so difficult to assess in terms of hard numbers because the numbers, in terms of loss, are currently so great that it's similar to trying to wrap your mouth around a series of triple-decker sandwiches stacked on top of each other.
For the time being, Americans can indeed make use of this wonderful device, as long as no direct claims for healing or curing… or even treatment, are made by doctors or those who sell the CES brain tuner.
Should you be one of the millions of Americans who suffer from either chronic pain or anxiety, depression or substance abuse, you would be wise to seek the benefits of the CES brain tuner.
Dr. Cohen is a huge proponent of this device .
|