Monday, November 26, 2007

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Repels Severe Depression

Transcranial magnetic stimulation significantly reduces acute symptoms of major depression and offers an alternative to conventional therapy, investigators in a multicenter trial have concluded.

Patients treated with transcranial magnetic stimulation had almost a twofold higher remission rate at six weeks compared with patients who received sham therapy in the randomized study, John P. O'Reardon, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues reported in the Dec. 1 issue of Biological Psychiatry.

As many as 40% of patients with major depression do not get adequate improvement in symptoms with medication and psychotherapy, the investigators noted. Depression may progress into treatment-resistant illness for which transcranial magnetic stimulation could be useful.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation involves discharge of a time-varying current from an insulated coil placed on the scalp surface. The discharge generates a brief dynamic magnetic field that induces current flow when reaching a conductive medium, such as neural tissue. The current offers the potential to modulate neural circuitry in a therapeutic fashion.