Researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago have discovered a promising therapy that will be an effective and long-term treatment for major depression. The goal of the study was to determine the durability and long-term effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS.
TMS is a non-invasive, non-drug therapy that gives highly focused magnetic field pulses through the scalp to a specific area of the brain. The pulses are targeted to the left prefrontal cortex, which, in turn, stimulates the areas of the brain that are connected to depression.
These magnetic field pulses are of a similar strength to the magnetic field that is produced during an MRI scan. The constant short bursts of magnetic energy stimulate local neurons and neurons in the connected regions of the brain. TMS therapy was cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration in October of 2008 for clinical use. This is a safe treatment for depression, but as yet, there is limited information on its long-term benefits.
The research study involved 301 patients suffering from major depression. The six-week controlled trial consisted of study subjects receiving actual TMS therapy or a placebo treatment. The patients in the study then completed a three-week, transition period where their treatment, either real or placebo, was reduced and then given a maintenance dose of an antidepressant medication. After any successful acute treatment for depression like TMS therapy, antidepressant drugs or electroconvulsive therapy, it is common to introduce maintenance drugs to reduce the chance of patients who experience a relapse in their depression symptoms.
In the trial, 142 patients who received active TMS therapy responded and began the three-week transition phase. One hundred and twenty one patients in the trial completed this phase without a relapse. Of those patients, 99 or 81.8 percent subsequently agreed to be followed for an additional six months. During that six month period, the researchers reported that only 10 patients experienced a relapse of their depression.
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