Pulsing Electromagnets Moderately Effective Against Depression

Over the past few years, numerous researchers have said that stimulating the brain of depression patients with magnets may be an effective means of mitigating for some of the symptoms associated with this condition. However, until now, tests conducted to validate this claim have not been tightly-controlled and thoroughly conducted. A new investigation has recently exceeded these limitations, and has shown that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), using pulsing electromagnets, is an efficient method of addressing the mental condition.

The technique is mostly aimed at those people who do not appear to respond to standard depression medication, or who, for some reason, cannot tolerate the chemicals these pills contain. For these individuals, rTMS may be an efficient, non-invasive alternative to common medical practices. The conclusions belong to the first industry-independent, multi-site, randomized, tightly controlled trial of magnetic stimulation. According to this report, only minor side-effects have been directly associated with using the therapy.

Study details show that about 14 percent of all patients that were treated for depression using magnets experienced an improvement in their condition. Though this may not seem much, the control group that received a simulated treatment did not fare so well. Only 5 percent of people within it showed signs of improvement in their condition. “Although rTMS treatment has not yet lived up to early hopes that it might replace more invasive therapies, this study suggests that the treatment may be effective in at least some treatment-resistant patients,” explains the director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Thomas R. Insel, MD. The NIMH is a division of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“This study should help settle the debate about whether rTMS works for depression. We can now follow up clues suggesting ways to improve its effectiveness, and hopefully further develop a potential new class of stimulation treatments for other brain disorders,” explains the leader of the research team, Mark George, MD. He is based at the Medical University of South Carolina. The expert explains that most of those who registered remission following rTMS had exhibited moderate symptoms of depression before the therapy was applied, rather than severe symptoms.