Oak Park woman battling epilepsy feels relief as latest solution helps detect epileptic activity in the brain
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Dozens of drugs are available for people battling epilepsy, a neurological disorder that causes seizures, but medication isn't effective for approximately 30 percent of patients.
Morning Insider Lauren Victory shows us a solution that's changed the game for an Oak Park family.
Karisa Reyna suddenly experienced a seizure when she was 20-years-old. Soon, they began happening three or four times a month.
"Feel my heart and head, so dizzy," she said, describing what the epileptic episodes felt like over and over for years.
Now, her seizures are few and far between – essentially eliminated.
"Well, I hope so," Reyna said.
Neurologists at the University of Chicago Medicine hope so too. They embedded a device - similar to a pacemaker that monitors heart rhythms into Reyna's brain in 2017. Electrodes are deep inside connected to a computer that sits on top of her brain.
Dr. Naoum Issa explains the RNS System from NeuroPace detects the onset of epileptic activity.
"We know that if you can stimulate the brain at the right place at the right time, you can stop the seizure in its tracks," said Dr. Issa, who treats Reyna and directs epilepsy research at the University of Chicago Medicine.
Successfully halting a seizure is only one goal. Dr. Issa needs to continuously record brain activity so Reyna places a wand over her head at home that uploads data from the device to a server for her neurologists to analyze.
"Sometimes you can't tell when seizures are happening just by looking at a person," said Dr. Issa.
By examining the times Reyna goes seizure-free, he can tweak her epilepsy medication. High dosages pre-surgery were "turning her into a zombie," said Reyna's mom Norma Lopez-Reyna.
"You know, sleeping a lot and always complaining of the stomach," said Lopez-Reyna.
CBS News first told you about these magic medical devices in this 2018 story.
What's changed since then? Battery life has really improved and so has patient eligibility, said Dr. Issa.
"We're now learning that we can put the device in different parts of the brain and control different kinds of seizures," he said.
It means even more families battling epilepsy can feel relief like the Reyna's.
"We're not worried. We're not worried anymore," said Reyna's mom.
Anyone can develop epilepsy. As we mentioned, Reyna's seizures began when she was 20.
The Epilepsy Foundation estimates one million people in the United States have uncontrolled seizures that can't be treated with medications.