Question:
This question is for those of you who have had gold beads implanted in
your epileptic dogs.
Do the gold bead implants make any medication unnecessary or are the
gold beads used as a supplement to anti-convulsive medication?
Answer:
-Gold bead implants are a permanent form of acupuncture. The gold beads are
implanted on the acupuncture points on the dog's back and head. The gold beads
are very tiny, about the size of a pinhead or tip of a fine ball point pen. They
provide a long-term stimulation of the points. This form of treatment was
pioneered in the 1970's . As with all forms of treatment, it will work for some
and not for others. The first gold bead implants performed in the US were done
in the early 1970's by Dr. Grady Young. Dr. Terry Durkes in Marion, IN began
doing clinical research on using the implants in 1975, and initially used them
to treat seizure disorders and hip dysplasia.
Using a needle, three gold beads are implanted in each location, and the
location is very precise. If the beads are off even one sixteenth of an inch
(slightly less than 5 mm), they will not be successful.
People have reported that their dogs have bled at the locations where the gold
beads were implanted, and this is a good sign. From the Chinese medicine
perspective, seizures can be caused by too much internal heat, often from the
liver, which creates wind and seizures are a symptom of the excess wind. When
bleeding occurs where the beads are implanted, this means that the excess heat
is being released. This makes it likely that the implants was needed in that
area.
Gold is used because it is non-reactive with the body. It is not known exactly
how the gold bead implants work, but Dr. Durkes said that he believes that the
gold beads emit a minute electrical charge, and the points that respond well to
the implants have excessive negative charges.
Success rate is 60% no longer have seizures and can go off meds, 20% have no
seizures but need to remain on a reduced dose of meds, and 20% have less
seizures, milder seizures or are not helped at all.
->This question is for those of you who have had gold beads implanted in
>your epileptic dogs.
I didn't have it done with my dog, but know people who did.
>Do the gold bead implants make any medication unnecessary or are the
>gold beads used as a supplement to anti-convulsive medication?
Depends on the dog's response to the beads. Ideally, the goal is to
get the dog off anti-epileptics entirely. That sometimes works with
some dogs, but certainly not with all dogs. As with everything, there
is a percentage of dogs on which the beads have no effect at all.
