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Re: Experience with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation » shellie

Posted by Ash on November 21, 2000, at 8:42:53

In reply to Re: Experience with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation » Ash, posted by shellie on November 19, 2000, at 14:32:41

Shellie:

The impression I got from my treating doctor prior to the start of treatments was that TMS is one of the more promising tools on the horizon for treatment resistant depression. It is still in the research stage though and needs fine tuning in terms of the optimal intensity and frequency of treatments and so forth. I guess some of this represents bias on the part of the researcher. A website (don't have URL here with me)representing a group of TMS researchers presents results of various studies, shows a highly variable success rate, but 40% or so is not uncommon. For non-psychotic depression, a double blind study showed it to be of equivalent efficacy to ECT.

At the conclusion of the acute treatment phase, many individuals who responded favorably may revert to their pretreatment depressed stage. In the particular study I was involved in, responders were scheduled for additional treatments but in a sort of weaning off manner - first thrice a week, then twice and so on. It is also possible that A/D medications that were previously ineffective may now prove to have therapeutic value.

I agree though that TMS at this time at least is not the magic (magnetized) wand that will solve all the problems of us poor depressed (demagnetized?) souls.

Ash

> Ash, Thanks for the information. I'm sorry it didn't TMS didn't work for you.
>
> I was under a very different impression last time I spoke to a pdoc at NIMH about it. He recommended against it because said that two week trials had proved too short a time for success. He also said there was no followup available for retreatment if there was temporary success. Since then I thought I had read that the numbers were pretty bad. Where did you get your percentages from? Was that your study, or a combination of all centers, doing two weeks and I think four weeks.
>
> Thanks for any additional information you could point me to. Shellie


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