Posted on Feb 6, 2022
An experimental depression treatment uses electric currents to bring relief
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/02/06/ [login to see] /an-experimental-depression-treatment-uses-electric-currents-to-bring-relief
After 40 years of fighting debilitating depression, Emma was on the brink.
"I was suicidal," said Emma, a 59-year-old Bay Area resident. NPR is not using her full name at her request because of the stigma of mental illness. "I was going to die."
Over the years, Emma sat through hours of talk therapy and tried numerous anti-depression medications "to have a semblance of normalcy." And yet she was consumed by relentless fatigue, insomnia and chronic nausea.
Depression is the world's leading cause of disability, partly because treatment options often result in numerous side effects or patients do not respond at all. And there are many people who never seek treatment because mental illness can carry heavy stigma and discrimination. Studies show untreated depression can lead to suicide.
Three years ago, Emma's psychiatrist urged her to enroll in a study at Stanford University School of Medicine designed for people who had run out of options. On her first day, scientists took an MRI scan to determine the best possible location to deliver electrical pulses to her brain. Then for a 10 minute block every hour for 10 hours a day for five consecutive days, Emma sat in a chair while a magnetic field stimulated her brain.
After 40 years of fighting debilitating depression, Emma was on the brink.
"I was suicidal," said Emma, a 59-year-old Bay Area resident. NPR is not using her full name at her request because of the stigma of mental illness. "I was going to die."
Over the years, Emma sat through hours of talk therapy and tried numerous anti-depression medications "to have a semblance of normalcy." And yet she was consumed by relentless fatigue, insomnia and chronic nausea.
Depression is the world's leading cause of disability, partly because treatment options often result in numerous side effects or patients do not respond at all. And there are many people who never seek treatment because mental illness can carry heavy stigma and discrimination. Studies show untreated depression can lead to suicide.
Three years ago, Emma's psychiatrist urged her to enroll in a study at Stanford University School of Medicine designed for people who had run out of options. On her first day, scientists took an MRI scan to determine the best possible location to deliver electrical pulses to her brain. Then for a 10 minute block every hour for 10 hours a day for five consecutive days, Emma sat in a chair while a magnetic field stimulated her brain.
An experimental depression treatment uses electric currents to bring relief
Posted from npr.org
Mental Health
Depression
Suicide
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Three years ago, Emma's psychiatrist urged her to enroll in a study at Stanford University School of Medicine designed for people who had run out of options. On her first day, scientists took an MRI scan to determine the best possible location to deliver electrical pulses to her brain. Then for a 10 minute block every hour for 10 hours a day for five consecutive days, Emma sat in a chair while a magnetic field stimulated her brain.
At the end of the first day, an unfamiliar calm settled over Emma. Even when her partner picked her up to drive home, she stayed relaxed. "I'm usually hysterical," she said. "All the time I'm grabbing things. I'm yelling, you know, 'Did you see those lights?' And while I rode home that first night I just looked out the window and I enjoyed the ride."
The remedy was a new type of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) called "Stanford neuromodulation therapy." By adding imaging technology to the treatment and upping the dose of rTMS, scientists have developed an approach that's more effective and works more than eight times faster than the current approved treatment.
A coil placed on top of Emma's head created a magnetic field that sent electric pulses through her skull to tickle the surface of her brain. She says it felt like a woodpecker tapping on her skull every 15 seconds. The electrical current is directed at the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that plans, dreams and controls our emotions."...
..."Three years ago, Emma's psychiatrist urged her to enroll in a study at Stanford University School of Medicine designed for people who had run out of options. On her first day, scientists took an MRI scan to determine the best possible location to deliver electrical pulses to her brain. Then for a 10 minute block every hour for 10 hours a day for five consecutive days, Emma sat in a chair while a magnetic field stimulated her brain.
At the end of the first day, an unfamiliar calm settled over Emma. Even when her partner picked her up to drive home, she stayed relaxed. "I'm usually hysterical," she said. "All the time I'm grabbing things. I'm yelling, you know, 'Did you see those lights?' And while I rode home that first night I just looked out the window and I enjoyed the ride."
The remedy was a new type of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) called "Stanford neuromodulation therapy." By adding imaging technology to the treatment and upping the dose of rTMS, scientists have developed an approach that's more effective and works more than eight times faster than the current approved treatment.
A coil placed on top of Emma's head created a magnetic field that sent electric pulses through her skull to tickle the surface of her brain. She says it felt like a woodpecker tapping on her skull every 15 seconds. The electrical current is directed at the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that plans, dreams and controls our emotions."...
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