Transcranial magnetic stimulation used for depression treatment
Local doctors use magnets to effectively treat depression
Published 9:49 AM EDT May 20, 2013
Thomasina Bedingfield has
battled major depression for 50 years and dealt with endless failed
treatments.
"When I was 22, they were
giving me tranquilizers,” said Bedingfield.
“She was taking a number
of medications, but despite that was still very anxious, having trouble
functioning, crying all the time,” said Dr. Barry Ginsberg, chief of psychiatry
at Beverly Hospital, a member of Lahey Health.
But thanks to a new
treatment called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or TMS therapy, the
71-year-old can finally say she’s happy.
“It involves stimulating a
particular area of the brain with a rapidly pulsating, strong magnetic field,”
said Ginsberg.
That area, the left,
prefrontal cortex, is believed to regulate mood, and when someone's depressed,
isn't as active as it should be.
The FDA-approved treatment
kicks it back into high gear with magnetic pulses about the strength of an
MRI.
“You do see people who've
just had a response to TMS that they don't get to anything else,” said
Ginsberg.
That includes people like
Bedingfield, with major depression who've tried antidepressants without success.
According to studies, two out of three feel better and one in three patients are
completely symptom-free after six weeks of treatment.
“It’s just as effective,
maybe even more effective, for people who are earlier in their course of
depression,” said Ginsberg.
In extremely rare cases,
TMS therapy can cause seizures, but “that's less than one in every 10,000
treatments,” said Ginsberg.
The most common complaint
is a tapping feeling during the 37-minute treatment.
“It’s slightly unpleasant
at the first treatment, and after that, it's nothing at all. People oftentimes
go to sleep during the sessions,” said Ginsberg.
Treatments initially are
five days a week for four to six weeks.
“When I got halfway
through, I knew I was better,” said Bedingfield.
Experts say the sky's the
limit for this new technology and are researching other uses from weight loss to
treating pain disorders and migraines.
The treatment course runs
between $8,000-$12,000, but Ginsberg said about half of insurance companies
cover TMS and more are heading in that direction.
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