Electromagnetic Therapy Offers Hope for Depression

Although several therapies exist for people with severe clinical depression, including medication, psychotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy, they don't all work for everyone.

For many patients with severe depression — characterized by an all-encompassing low mood and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities — who have tried without success to relieve their symptoms with at least one round of medication, there now is a therapy that stimulates the brain, but does so without general anesthesia or lingering aftereffects. Called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), the procedure uses magnetic fields to change the activity in a specific area of the brain thought to influence mood and emotion to improve the symptoms of severe depression, explains Ian Cook, M.D., director of the UCLA Depression Research and Clinic Program.

The procedure is conducted in an office setting; a patient undergoing TMS sits in a chair resembling a recliner, while a large electromagnet is precisely positioned over his or her head to emit targeted electromagnetic pulses. While the patient's head is gently secured in place, he or she is fully awake during the 45-minute sessions and is able to read, converse, watch videos or listen to music. The therapy is conducted five days a week over four to six weeks.

"Some people like to take a nap. Others like to meditate. All they really experience is the sensation of a tapping on the scalp from the magnetic field, even though nothing is mechanically tapping there," Dr. Cook says.

Patients wishing to undergo TMS at UCLA are reviewed by a committee, which discusses each case to ensure that the patient is an appropriate candidate. Results from clinical trials have been promising, Dr. Cook points out. After six weeks, about 54 percent of patients reported improvement in their mood, and 33 percent were in remission from their depression.

Learn more at www.uclahealth.org

Category:

Science & Technology

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• TMS
• eletrocmagnetic therapy
• depression Dr. Ian Cook

[gettmac]

I underwent 5 straight weeks of TMS treatment at Loma Linda Hospital, CA. There was absolutely NO benefit. My insurance company pulled the plug (literally) 1 week early due to lack of positive results. Why it works for some and not others is heartbreaking for me. I worked with Dr. Cook at UCLA in a clinical trial investigating stimulation of the trigeminal nerve, but again, no benefit. Dr. Cook & his team were amazing and caring. I'm still searching for depression relief after 30+ years.

[jhamien920]

Great! This will be very useful to many. Not only in US but to other countries as well.

[wwwtotalitaerde]

@RESQBUN The US probably needs a health system like in the UK or Australia, payed for by taxes.

[RESQBUN]

To save money try looking into a clinical trial for TMS. Since this treatment is in its infancy you still have an opportunity to enroll. You don’t have to pay. The study I am enrolled I found through the website: clinicaltrials.gov Just type in TMS and lots of clinical trials for TMS will pop up. Of course you have to qualify - but if I had to pay out of pocket as my insurance does not cover this type of treatment it would cost me $12,000 !!! TOTALLY OUTRAGEOUS !!!

[RESQBUN]

Get into a clinical trial for TMS - no cost out of your pocket

[UEV0L]

placebo effect ?

[mikezaq1]

A replacement for ECT?

[Jakepod34]

@Turbolad995 You can thank your socialized healthcare industry for that. America is heading the same direction and has already affected some of my close friends, who are not wealthy. Obama promised costs would drop, but they are rising. I guess America is more like Britain more now than ever

[Turbolad995]

Wish I could have this on the NHS in the UK. It looks good. I couldn't afford it privately. Just anything to feel better.

[chancbl]

I think Charmian Carr is a great inspiration as an actress and mentor--what a fighter--she rocks