Anti-Depressants Work Only in Patients With the Most Severe Cases of Depression

British scientists have reported the results of their research regarding the efficacy of some of the most popular anti-depressant drugs. The conclusion was surprising to many: anti-depressants are really only effective in the most severely depressed patients, with most patients experiencing placebo effect only.

The ramifications of this study could be far-reaching. Are anti-depressants really effective? More studies will certainly be conducted. In the meantime, it is interesting that while some deeply depressed patients are able to find relief using anti-depressants, many with severe depression do not experience these effects from drugs.

That is why we at the Elata Foundation feel strongly that other treatments (such as TMS, transcranial magnetic stimulation) should be researched, tested, and made available to those patients without the hope of finding help from anti-depressants. While it is wonderful that many people can find help in anti-depressants, it is important that everyone be able to find a treatment that can help them out of depression.

Tags: Transcranial magnetic stimulation, TMS, anti-depressants study, anti-depressants depression, transcranial magnetic stimulation depression

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Fewer Side Effects Than Many Depression Treatments

One of the researchers involved in the recent large-scale study of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has elaborated on the study.

Dr. John P. O’Reardon of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine said of the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation study he conducted: “TMS provides a well-tolerated treatment option to patients whose depression is otherwise treatment resistant. Since TMS is administered via the scalp and therefore goes directly to the brain, it allows the patient to avoid bodily side effects such as weight gain, sedation and/or sexual function.”

Non-Drug Treatment Found To Be Effective For Treating Major Depression

The first large-scale study on the effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on depression, conducted jointly by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Rush University, found that TMS is a safe and effective treatment for depression.

The results will be published December 1 by the journal Biological Psychiatry. The editor of the neuroscience journal, John Krystal, told the AFP: “This study provides new support for the efficacy of TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) as a ’stand alone’ treatment for depression… This finding could be particularly important for patients who do not tolerate antidepressant medications, for whom they are not safe, or who have not benefited from other alternative treatments.”

This study differed from previous TMS studies in that it used larger doses of energy and utilized a larger number of participants. Researchers found that among patients who received TMS treatment as opposed to a placebo, rates of remission were reported to be twice as high– which is also higher than rates of remission reported in clinical trials for anti-depressants.

Researchers noted that most of the participants in their study had failed to respond to anti-depressants in previous attempts at treatment. With more than 300 patients at over 23 sites in the United States, Canada, and Australia, the study experienced a low drop-out rate among participants, an indication that TMS is well-tolerated by patients.

For further information on TMS as a depression treatment, and how you can help those who suffer from major depression, please visit The Elata Foundation’s website: http://www.elata.org. Elata is a 501(c)3 foundation, designated by the IRS, and all contributions are tax-deductible.

Britain’s Top Expert Speaks on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

In a recently published Daily Mail article, Professor Tony Barker, called “the country’s leading expert in TMS” by the British newspaper, explains how Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) works and its efficacy in treating symptoms of depression. Barker explains that the procedure could “revolutionise” the treatment of many diseases, including depression and stroke.

Dr. Barker compares TMS treatment favorably to Electric Shock Treatment (ECT), which has served as an effective treatment for severe depression for a number of years but also has many negative side effects: “The problem in the past with ECT is that the hard bone of the skull stops a great deal of the electricity passing through, so you have to use a very high dose to have any effect… This can be extremely painful. With TMS, the coil of wire transmits the electricity much more directly into a specific part of the brain affected, and is neither invasive nor painful.”

Professor Barker is a clinical scientist at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital.

For further information on TMS as a depression treatment, and how you can help those who suffer from major depression, please visit The Elata Foundation’s website: http://www.elata.org. Elata is a 501(c)3 foundation, designated by the IRS, and all contributions are tax-deductible.

Can Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Cure Migraines?

An article published in the UK’s Daily Mail in May 2006 outlines the devastating effects that migraine headaches have had on UK society and how, according to scientists, a small Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation device can help. The Daily Mail writes:

“The new treatment is known as Trans-cranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and is provided by a hand-held gadget about the size of a hairdryer, which is held against the back of head. The device emits a painless magnetic pulse that ‘interrupts’ brain cell activity which would otherwise lead to migraine.”

The Daily Mail was reporting on the results of a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) study conducted by Ohio State University in the US. In the Ohio State study, 69% of 23 migraine sufferers reported little or no pain from migraine two hours after treatment with TMS, compared to 48% of the group which received placebo treatment. One of the patients who actually received treatment from the TMS device at the lab told researchers that it “transformed” her life. That reaction and the results of the study led the Ohio State neurologists to call the study’s results “very encouraging.”

The Daily Mail details how a possible home TMS treatment for migraine could cost about £1,000 ($2,000), which is expensive, but not as expensive as migraine headaches’ cost to the overall UK economy, or to themselves for missed work. The one in eight Brits who suffer from migraine headaches result in 90,000 workers missing work each day in the UK, which adds up to £1.5 billion lost to the UK economy each year.

The Elata Foundation’s mission is to encourage and fund more of this type of research into TMS as a cure for many major illnesses in addition to migraine, including major depression uncured by any other treatment.

For more information on the Elata Foundation, please visit our website at http://www.elata.org.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Debuts in India

According to an article published in ”The Times of India,” Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS or rTMS) is now being successfully used as a treatment for those suffering from major depression in India.

Neuropsychiatrists at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore, India have begun using TMS for patients with depression as a substitute for antidepressants (which often do not work in treating major cases of depression) and electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT (which can sometimes cause severe side effects in patients). Unlike antidepressants or ECT, TMS has few side effects besides headache and minor discomfort at the treatment site.

According to the report, Dr. B N Gangadhar, head of psychiatry at NIMHANS, said that TMS is safe and has few side effects in comparison to other treatments: “Drugs have their side-effects – reduction of appetite, loss of weight, vascular headaches and sexual dysfunction in males are some common ones.”

TMS is a method of stimulating the brain using magnets, redirecting the brain’s magnetic field in such a way as to, in some cases evidenced in clinical studies, reduce major depression and symptoms of other illnesses, such as Parkinson’s Disease or Alzheimer’s Disease. According to Gandaghar, TMS stimulation is applied six to eight times per treatment session, and the number of sessions varies by the individual.

For further information on TMS as a depression treatment, and how you can help those who suffer from major depression, please visit The Elata Foundation’s website: http://www.elata.org. Elata is a 501(c)3 foundation, designated by the IRS, and all contributions are tax-deductible.

Elata Foundation, Nonprofit for Depression Education and Treatment, Launches Website

New Site Directed Towards Education and News Relating to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

CHAPEL HILL, NC – The Elata Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding scientific research into new treatments for depression, has launched its website: http://www.elata.org. The website is a key aspect of Elata’s mission: to help the four million Americans with refractory (untreatable) depression by promoting education and research into the promising technology of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as a method of helping cure depression.

The Elata Foundation website has been available in “beta” format since May and will now be expanded and improved, with a TMS blog covering the latest news regarding rTMS and TMS in general, a quiz so readers can see how much they know about TMS, and expanded resources for those seeking TMS treatment, including a map displaying all locations in the United States currently offering Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation treatment in clinical studies.

With its website, the Elata Foundation hopes to educate those who are seeking information on depression, specifically TMS as an alternative to current treatments. For more information on the Elata Foundation, call 919-883-4044, email info@elata.org, or visit the website: http://www.elata.org.

 

About the Elata Foundation:

The Elata Foundation is a nonprofit 501©3 organization created to promote education and fund scientific research in the growing field of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) as a treatment for refractory depression (depression which does not respond to any other treatment).

The Elata Foundation is dedicated to bringing TMS out of the research lab and into the clinic, so that it can be used to safely and effectively treat the patients who need it most. It is estimated that up to 30 percent of depression cases are resistant to other treatments – an estimated 4 million people a year, in America alone. For these people, TMS has been hailed as a life-saving breakthrough. Elata’s mission is to give hope to those debilitated by depression who have found no treatment that works besides TMS.