Saturday, August 5, 2017

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Saw this on a billboard.  Went to the website.  Sounds like scam, but apparently a miracle treatment for Major Depressive Disorder, chronic pain, stroke-induced aphasia, TBI, spinal cord injury, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, and substance abuse.  FDA approved for depression.  Hideously expensive; plan on $6000-$12,000.  Essentially side effect free.

Along the way, I ran into a similar treatment device called Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) which has similarly amazing improvements and the Fisher-Wallace CES is $699.
Intended for home use.  "[R]esults are frequently seen from the first treatment."

I know someone with severe depression.  The CES sounds promising.

U.S. Army Medical Department Journal:
The purpose of this study was to examine service members' and veterans' perceptions of the effectiveness and safety of CES treatment. Service members and veterans (N=1,514) who had obtained a CES device through the Department of Defense or Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 2006-2011 were invited to participate in the web based survey via email. One hundred fifty-two participants returned questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Participants reported clinical improvement of 25% or more from using CES for anxiety (66.7%), PTSD (62.5%), insomnia (65.3%) and depression (53.9%). The majority of these participants reported clinical improvement of 50% or more. Respondents also perceived CES to be safe (99.0%). Those individuals who were not taking any prescription medication rated CES more effective than the combined CES and prescription medication group. 
Journal of Affective Disorders:
Analysis of covariance revealed a significant difference between the active CES group and the sham CES group on anxiety (p=0.001, d=0.94) and on depression (p=0.001, d=0.78) from baseline to endpoint of study in favor of the active CES group. 

1 comment:

  1. I know someone who has just began this treatment and just after a few treatments his participation in conversation has greatly improved.

    ReplyDelete