14 DAY TRIAL // Being too sad can drive one to commit suicide, but taking drugs against it (antidepressants) means killing your sex life. Antidepressants type SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors like Prozac (Fluoxetine), Paxil, and Zoloft (Sertraline)) increase serotonin levels in the brain, which causes sexual dysfunction in at least 73 % of the cases and impede achieving orgasm both by men and by women.
MAOIs, that decrease the breakdown of norepinephrine and serotonin, casue sexual dysfunction, but not as severely as the SSRIs do. Still they can cause birth problems in case of pregnant women.
That's why a team at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in a research published in Biological Psychiatry, has focused on transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive technique turning on brain cells through magnetic pulses transmitted through the scalp, a safe and effective, non-drug treatment with minimal side effects eliminating the use of ineffective and with nasty side effect antidepressants.
"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 dysfunction.", said lead author Dr. John P. O'Reardon, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Penn.
The study was carried on at 23 sites in the U.S., Australia and Canada, on 301 medication-free subjects with major depression whose condition was not improved by previous treatment. The subjects underwent for 4-6 weeks real of false TMS. TMS induced about two times a higher response than the bogus, without severe side effects. Less than 5% of the subjects interrupted their TMS because of the side effects, meaning that the method is over three times better tolerated and safer than antidepressant chemicals, which have a 15% discontinuation rate because of the side effects.
"As indicated by recent large scale, government-sponsored, studies of existing treatment options for major depression conducted by the National Institute of Health (the STAR-D reports), there is a great need to develop new, effective treatments for patients, especially those not benefiting from first line interventions. The results of this study indicate that TMS offers new hope to patients in this regard.", O'Reardon added.