Historical Perspective of Therapeutic Electricity

• Published in: The FASEB journal 2017-04, Vol.31 (S1)
• Main Authors: Dias, Daniel Penteado Martins, Fazan, Rubens, Salgado, Helio Cesar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0892-6638; 1530-6860
• DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.lb758

Abstract only The development and employment of effective methods to treat clinical conditions has affected life quality and expectancy worldwide. There are records showing that the Egyptian civilization, 4,000 years ago, used electricity from electric fish for treating pathologies. Later, Luigi Galvani proposed the concept of bioelectricity in 1780, when he observed that if two metallic instruments touched the sciatic nerve of a toad, there was contraction of the musculature of the hind limbs. The electrical stimulation of tissues has developed noticeably over the past decades. Shelden (1966) has employed electrical stimulation of a branch of the trigeminal nerve for treating an acute pain. It is believed, for instance, that electrical stimulation of neural pathways promotes pain relief by blocking the transmission of physiological electrical signals. The development of new forms of treatment, based on electrical stimulation, depends on three steps: 1) identification of the target tissue; 2) determination of the stimulation pattern; 3) development of appropriate device for the application. Among the clinical conditions currently treated with electrical stimulation we could highlight: depression, epilepsy, hypertension, chronic lower back pain, obesity, and obstructive sleep apnea. Although it seems a challenging technique, there are recent reports (2012) showing that more than 100,000 patients have already been implanted with electrical stimulators in the vagus nerve to treat a variety of diseases. It is clear that the technique is extremely promising but requires joint work by clinicians, neuroscientists and engineers to develop effective protocols for chronic electrical stimulation of tissues. Support or Funding Information FAPESP (Processes n. 2013/20549‐7 and 2015/20463‐0).