ZAP-X is what’s next in non-invasive cancer treatment. It enables neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists to change precision radiation for the better. Designed exclusively for the streamlined treatment of brain tumors and conditions of the head and neck, ZAP-X redefines the future of radiosurgery.
Why choose ZAP-X for brain cancer?
“Whether it comes to patient care, clinical trials, or surgical technique, we push the envelope at the global level to achieve the best possible outcomes.” For patients and their families, ZAP-X offers greater comfort and confidence than traditional brain cancer and brain tumor treatment options.
Is there a cure for brain zaps?
There is no cure for brain zaps, and they usually go away over time. Once a person’s body has adjusted to the change in antidepressant dosage, brain zaps and some other side effects may decrease. Learn more about brain zaps, including causes and how they feel, in this article.
Could a cap that zaps tumors with currents boost survival?
HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, April 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- A cap that zaps tumors with electrical currents may boost survival in patients with a deadly brain cancer, new research suggests. The device is worn on the head and exposes glioblastoma cells to a rapidly alternating sequence of low-intensity electrical frequencies.
What are brain zaps and are they dangerous?
They can happen in a person who is decreasing or stopping their use of certain medications, particularly antidepressants. Brain zaps are not harmful and will not damage the brain. However, they can be bothersome, disorienting, and disruptive to sleep.
What is the success rate of radiation therapy for brain cancer?
The non-RT group had overall survival rates of 35.3% at 1 year, 14.6% at 3 years, 9.1% at 5 years, and 6.3% at 7 years, while the RT group had overall survival rates of 42.4% at 1 year, 13.9% at 3 years, 7.2% at 5 years, and 4.4% at 7 years (Fig. 2).
What is the most effective medical treatment for brain tumors?
Surgery. Surgery is the usual treatment for most brain tumors. To remove a brain tumor, a neurosurgeon makes an opening in the skull. This operation is called a craniotomy.
What is the latest treatment for brain tumor?
For people with glioblastoma and high-grade glioma, the latest standard of care is radiation therapy with daily low-dose temozolomide (Temodar). This is followed by monthly doses of temozolomide after radiation therapy for 6 months to 1 year.
What happens after first radiation treatment for brain cancer?
The most common early side effects are fatigue (feeling tired) and skin changes. Other early side effects usually are related to the area being treated, such as hair loss and mouth problems when radiation treatment is given to this area. Late side effects can take months or even years to develop.
How long can you live with an inoperable brain tumor?
Sometimes called “The Terminator” due to its fast and deadly nature, glioblastoma has a median survival time of nine months without treatment and an additional seven months with standard therapies, researchers have noted.
How long does someone with brain tumour live?
Survival for all types of cancerous (malignant) brain tumour 40 out of 100 people (40%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more. more than 10 out of 100 people (more than 10%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more.
What foods shrink brain tumors?
Dark, leafy greens. Spinach, kale and arugula are all great sources of inflammation reducing minerals, which aid disease-fighting cells to help support your immune system. When paired with fatty nuts and oils, they can be quickly absorbed into your system.
Is there a pill to shrink brain tumors?
A clinical trial has found that selinexor, the first of a new class of anti-cancer drugs, was able to shrink tumors in almost a third of patients with recurrent glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer.
Is a brain tumor a death sentence?
Some brain tumours grow very slowly (low grade) and cannot be cured. Depending on your age at diagnosis, the tumour may eventually cause your death. Or you may live a full life and die from something else. It will depend on your tumour type, where it is in the brain, and how it responds to treatment.
How long after brain radiation will I feel better?
Radiotherapy to the brain can cause short term side effects such as tiredness and sickness. These side effects usually improve a few weeks after treatment. You may also have long term side effects which can continue for a lot longer and sometimes might be permanent.
What can you not do during radiation treatment?
Avoid raw vegetables and fruits, and other hard, dry foods such as chips or pretzels. It's also best to avoid salty, spicy or acidic foods if you are experiencing these symptoms. Your care team can recommend nutrient-based oral care solutions if you are experiencing mucositis or mouth sores caused by cancer treatment.
Is radiation to the brain painful?
Headaches. Radiation therapy can cause swelling of the brain that causes headaches. Headaches are a less common side effect than fatigue or irritability but can affect your quality of life. There are several medications that can help the pain from these headaches.
Non-Invasive Brain Tumor Treatment: The ZAP-X Difference
For patients and their families, ZAP-X offers greater comfort and confidence than traditional brain cancer and brain tumor treatment options. The ZAP-X self-shielding technology enables in-suite brain tumor treatment, eliminating the inconvenience and discomfort of being transported to an isolated radiation vault.
Why Choose ZAP-X Technology To Treat Your Brain Tumor?
We have more than 8,000 opportunities each year to turn seemingly insurmountable odds into miraculous stories of strength, hope, and most importantly, success. Take a look at some of the people we’ve been privileged to help.
Request a Surgical Evaluation
As a Barrow patient, you can feel confident we’ll exhaust every avenue to arrive at a proper diagnosis and treatment plan customized specifically for you. Request a Surgical Evaluation online and our Patient Navigator will guide you through the next steps.
What is a zap x?
ZAP-X is what’s next in non-invasive cancer treatment. It enables neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists to change precision radiation for the better. Designed exclusively for the streamlined treatment of brain tumors and conditions of the head and neck, ZAP-X redefines the future of radiosurgery.
Who invented the ZAP X?
Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology at Stanford University, John R. Adler, MD, is the co-inventor of ZAP-X and a renowned pioneer in the field of radiosurgery. Inventor of the CyberKnife® System and founder of Accuray, Inc., Dr. Adler’s life work is focused on finding smarter solutions for physicians and their patients. In 2018, Dr. Adler was awarded the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Cushing Award for Technical Excellence and Innovation in Neurosurgery.
What is targeted therapy?
Targeted therapy is a treatment that targets the tumor’s specific genes, proteins, or tissue environment that contributes to a tumor’s growth and survival. This type of treatment blocks growth and spread of tumor cells and limits the damage to healthy cells.
Is adenocarcinoma in the brain aggressive?
CINCINNATI, Ohio. (Ivanhoe Newswire)— Adenocarcinoma in the brain is most often a cancer that has started in the lungs or the colon and spread. It is an aggressive, relentless disease. Now, a new form of treatment is providing increased quality of life for brain tumor patients.
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What Are Brain Zaps? A Psychiatrist Explains the Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptom
Wait, what are brain zaps?
Brain zaps isn't necessarily the technical name for this phenomenon, but it's the one that has stuck, Brian Barnett, MD, an addiction psychiatrist at Cleveland Clinic, tells Health. "People used to call them electrical shocks [or] brain shivers, but it seems like brain zaps have taken over the terminology," he says.
So, is there any way to avoid brain zaps while discontinuing antidepressants?
Brain zaps are common among patients who suddenly stop taking antidepressants (or forget to take them for a few days), says Dr. Barnett—that suggests it's worthwhile to slowly taper off your medications, and do so under the supervision of a doctor.
What is a brain zap?
Brain zaps are electrical shock sensations in the brain. They can happen in a person who is decreasing or stopping their use of certain medications, particularly antidepressants. Brain zaps are not harmful and will not damage the brain. However, they can be bothersome, disorienting, and disruptive to sleep.
How to prevent brain zaps?
Treatment. The best way to minimize or prevent brain zaps is to gradually taper off medications rather than stopping them abruptly. However, some evidence has found that tapering does not guarantee that a person will not experience brain zaps or other symptoms of withdrawal.
How long does it take for zaps to go away?
Nonetheless, antidepressant withdrawal can be challenging. However, the symptoms will usually go away on their own after a few weeks.
What is it called when you stop taking a drug?
Together, the symptoms a person may experience are called antidepressant withdrawal syndrome (AWS). Brain zaps and other symptoms of AWS are common.
What drugs cause brain zaps?
Researchers have linked the following drugs to brain zaps: antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors.
Do brain zaps go away?
There is no cure for brain zaps, and they usually go away over time. Once a person’s body has adjusted to the change in antidepressant dosage, brain zaps and some other side effects may decrease. Learn more about brain zaps, including causes and how they feel, in this article.
Can you stop brain zaps?
However, they can be bothersome, disorienting, and disruptive to sleep. People may be able to minimize or prevent brain zaps by tapering off their dosage of antidepressants gradually. However, a person should always work with a doctor before stopping their medication or lowering the dosage. Abruptly stopping an antidepressant may make ...
Why do cancer patients wear caps?
But because cancer cells make up the majority of the cells dividing in the brains of adult cancer patients, the treatment is more harmful to tumors than the brain. Advertisement. Enlarge. Novocure. Patients are supposed to wear the cap for at least 18 hours every day, as well as stay on a standard chemotherapy, called temozolomide.
How does the Optune cap work?
The cap, called the Optune, works by sending alternating, intermediate-frequency (200kHz) electrical fields into the brains of cancer patients. The idea is that the electrical fields disrupt cell division, preventing cells from properly lining up their chromosomes during a cellular split.
What is a novocure cap?
Novocure. An electric skull cap designed to zap cancer cells trying to grow in the brains of wearers proved useful at improving patient survival in a five-year clinical trial. When combined with standard chemotherapy, the cap more than doubled five-year survival rates of brain cancer patients—from 5 percent to 13 percent—researchers reported Sunday ...
How long does a cap patient live?
In the end, the study team found that survival time for the cap patients averaged 21 months. This compared with 16 months for those receiving standard care. The cap also appeared to improve the chances for survival.
What is the most deadly cancer in the central nervous system?
The researchers pointed out that glioblastoma is the most deadly cancer affecting the adult central nervous system. Stupp explained that the standard of care for this type of cancer involves surgery, followed by radiation and six to 12 months of chemotherapy with a drug called temozolomide.
What is the cap called that is used to harness electrical fields?
But adding the cap, called Optune, to that regimen produced even better results, the researchers found. The idea is to harness electrical fields that exert forces similar to "when you expose iron to a magnet," Stupp explained.
Is the cap a cancer treatment?
Roger Stupp, a professor of neurological surgery at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, the cap is "an entirely different way to treat cancer.