Depression treatment, devised at Stanford University, is almost 80% effective in controlled studies.News center

A new type of magnetic brain stimulation resulted in rapid remission in nearly 80% of participants with severe depression in a study conducted at Stanford University School of Medicine..

The treatment, known as Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation (SAINT) or simply Stanford Neuromodulation, is an intensive, personalized form of transcranial magnetic stimulation. In this study, remission usually occurred within a few days and lasted for months. The only side effects were temporary fatigue and headaches.

“It works well, works quickly, and is non-invasive,” he said. Nolan Williams, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “It could be a game changer.” Williams said on October 29th. American Journal of Psychiatry..

Twenty-nine people with treatment-resistant depression participated in the study. About half received SAINT and the rest received placebo treatment that mimicked the actual treatment. According to some standard assessment methods, after 5 days of treatment, 78.6% of participants in the treatment group were no longer depressed. “It’s a very dramatic effect and it’s very lasting,” he said. Alan Schatsburg, MD, Kenneth T. Norris Jr., Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and co-author of this study.

Life of depression

Tommy Van Brocklin, 60, has been suffering from depression since he was 15 years old. “In 1975, they didn’t have the current medicine and understanding,” he said. “I was told I wasn’t working hard enough.”

“I’ve been working for the last few years, but sometimes it was very difficult,” added the civil engineer. Talk therapy was useful “about half a day after booking”. When selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors became available in the 1990s, he began using paroxetine, commonly sold under the brand name Paxil.

“It worked like a miracle drug,” he said, but after 10 or 15 years it began to lose its effect. Twenty-five years later, it completely stopped working. He tried other medicines but no one helped. Some even made him commit suicide.

His sister, who lives near Stanford, associated him with a researcher studying saints. He took off from his home in Memphis, Tennessee and was treated in September. He felt nothing on the first day. On the second day, he began to feel emotional — “I have been struggling with what I have experienced over the last few years.”

“The next day, suddenly it broke through,” he said. “I feel very good, and it sticks to me.”

Special magnetic stimulus

Transcranial magnetic stimulation currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration requires a once-daily session for 6 weeks. Only about half of the treated patients improve and only about one-third experience relief from depression.

SAINT advances its treatment by targeting magnetic pulses according to each patient’s neural circuits and delivering more pulses at a faster pace.

In this study, researchers first used MRI to find the best place to target in each participant’s dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which regulates executive functions such as problem-solving and suppression of unwanted reactions. I found. They applied the stimulus to a small area most strongly associated with subgenital herpes zoster, which is part of the brain that is overactive in people experiencing depression. Transcranial magnetic stimulation strengthens the connection between the two regions and facilitates control of subcortical activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Researchers also used 1,800 pulses per session instead of 600 (more pulses are safely used in other forms of brain stimulation for neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease). Treatment for a 50-minute break.

For the control group, researchers disguised treatment with a magnetic coil that mimicked the experience of magnetic pulses. Both the control and aggressive treatment groups wore noise-cancelling earphones and received a topical ointment for dull sensations. Neither the researchers who manage the procedure nor the participants knew if the participants were receiving actual treatment.

Cumbersome group

The age of the study participants was 22 to 80 years. On average, they suffered from depression for nine years. They tried the drug, but it didn’t work or they quit their job. Participants who were on medication maintained their normal dose during the study. Participants who were not taking the drug did not start anything.