Kurvenal, a brindle Great Dane, was diagnosed with epilepsy as a puppy, and was on phenobarbitol by the age of 10 months old. It did not control his seizures, (grand mal), though, and the search for a way to control his seizures led us to alternative medicine. He is now an 11 year old boy, who has been seizure free for 5 years so far, and has been completely off of phenobarbitol for almost 4 1/2 years. Custom flower essences, (from Anaflora, http://www.anaflora.com), and gold bead implants, (a permanent form of acupuncture), were the key to his success.
Dr. Durkes' article on gold bead implants is at:
http://lochvale.freeservers.com/Durkes.html
Gold bead implants are a permanent form of acupuncture; gold beads are implanted on the acupuncture points, and provide long-term stimulation of the points. The gold
beads are very tiny, about the size of pinhead, or the point of a ballpoint pen. Gold
implants are used because gold is non-reactive with the body.
It is not known exactly how the gold bead implants work, but Dr. Durkes has said
that he believes that the gold beads emit a minute positive electrical charge, and the
conditions that respond well to the implants have excessive negative charges.
The first gold bead implants were done in the US in the early 1970s by Dr. Grady
Young. Dr. Durkes began doing clinical research on using the implants in 1975,
and initially used them to treat seizure disorders and hip dysplasia. He now
uses the implants for other conditions as well.
Dr. Durkes gives the following as his success rates:
60 percent of the dogs are *cured*--they will no longer have seizures,
and will no longer need any phenobarbitol.
20 percent of the dogs will *no longer have seizures*, but will still
need to take phenobarbitol (but reduced doses).
20 percent of the dogs will continue to have seizures. But, some of
those will at least have fewer seizures, and will have less severe
seizures. Some, of course, won't be helped at all.
Additionally, 10 to 20 percent of dogs who have some other condition,
(vision problems, skin problems, etc.), might see an improvement in that
as well. Success rates, however, are lower for dogs who cluster.
Based on the Chinese theory that a skilled acupuncturist can feel energy
imbalances in someone being treated, Dr. Durkes uses a form of energy
reading where he feels changes in his own pulse while moving his hand
over the dog’s body. Where there is a fluctuation in his own pulse, that
is a spot that needs to have gold beads implanted. Three gold beads
are implanted in each location, and the location is very precise.
If the implants are off even one-sixteenth of an inch, the implants will
not be successful.
Fortunately, it has been extremely successful for Kurvenal!
This was in "Progress in Veterinary Neurology",
(Vol. 4, No. 3), that was on treating epilepsy with ear acupuncture.
The summary is:
"Eleven dogs with longstanding epilepsy were treated with ear
acupuncture. Seven dogs were on high doses of anti-epileptic drugs. With
anti-epileptic therapy, 4 showed no decrease of seizures, 2 had
temporary reduction of seizures, and one complete control of seizures.
A human stay ear acupuncture needle was implanted in one point in
both ears. The needles stayed in place for between 4 days and 4 months
(mean 2 weeks). The needles were replaced (mean 4 times) on 3-9 week
basis. After this treatment, 4 dogs were seizure-free, 2 had a reduced
number of seizures, and 4 showed no amelioration.
Of the 7 dogs that received medication before acupuncture treatment,
one was seizure-free and without medication, one was kept on half-dose
drugs and was much improved, and 3 were maintained on much lower drug
doses (-33/-50 percent) with no clinical deterioration. 2 dogs that still
had attacks were reported to have shorter or absent prodromal and
postictal periods.
In conclusion, results from 5 of the 11 dogs tested showed that ear
acupuncture may afford partial or complete seizure remission."
Also, Schoen's "Veterinary Acupuncture" text mentions some other
examples of ear implants being used: Implants were used in 2 dogs, and:
"One dog exhibited a 6-fold increase in the interval between seizures,
whereas the other, which had a 30-day seizure interval, was seizure-free
at the time of the report 200 days later." Another example cited:
(again on 2 dogs): "The first dog was exhibiting cluster seizures
once a month despite adequate phenobarbitol levels. It has had no
further seziures for 2 years since the implants. The second dog
has had no seizures for 1 year after the implants."
TO JOIN A CANINE EPILEPSY EMAIL LIST, PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION AT THIS WEB SITE:
http://www.schips-r-it.com/k9epi.html
** You can click on the link to Pua's Web Page to access this web site, also.
This site is still under construction, and will eventually have detailed information on canine epilepsy, Cushings disease, bloat, degenerative myelapothy, Wobblers,acupuncture/acupressure, herbs (Western and Chinese), diet, QiGong, nutritional supplements, magnets, massage, and more.
To contact me, please send an email to:
kurvenal@ameritech.net
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