Posted by Reggie BoStar on January 15, 2007, at 20:46:42
In reply to re: ECT is this a surprise?, posted by skeptiK on January 4, 2007, at 12:14:17
I've seen this report about Sackheim's study before. While I'm no fan of Sackheim, I'm not crazy about the way the media puts a spin on things sometimes.
Here is the title of the article:
"Electroconvulsive Therapy Causes Permanent Amnesia and Cognitive Deficits, Prominent Researcher Admits"
Now here is the quote they lifted from the study:
"[T]his study provides the first evidence in a large, prospective sample that adverse cognitive effects can persist for an extended period.."
Notice in the quote that no mention is made of **permanent** amnesia or cognitive defects. Instead, it says that there were "adverse cognitive defects for an extended period".
Those are two different things. Neither is there an "admission" as the headline suggests - just a statement describing the results.
There is also no mention of whether unilateral or bilateral treatments were observed in the study. New findings suggest that unilateral treatments (one side of the brain only) do not cause any memory deficits at all. Where's THAT in the headline?
Once again, I am no fan of Sackheim and I do believe that ECT can cause cognitive deficits in some cases. But which cases, exactly? Unilateral ECT? Bilateral ECT? What about voltage/current levels and frequency?
There are a ton of variables that can swing the results from beneficial to harmful, and the only thing the headline picked up on was an unspecific reference to "defects" over an "extended" period of time.
I would add that until safe vs. dangerous applications are quantified using existing data (not new patients), ECT should be discontinued.
That having been said, I think the spin in this article's headline constitutes either hysteria or a very active imagination on the part of the reporter.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Sackheim did not get where he is by being stupid. If there is some dangerous issue with ECT that he knows about, he will not come forward with a sudden "admission" of any kind. He will leak the news in a way that will minimize the damage to him. Thus, we can expect to see ambiguous statements like the one in the quote.
Just my opinion. I could be wrong, of course.
Reggie BoStar
poster:Reggie BoStar
thread:719277
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070113/msgs/722708.html