Cortical Brain Stimulation Offers Hope To People With Treatment-Resistant Major Depression
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons reported research on Depression this month.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in approximately 70 percent of cases in which antidepressant medications do not provide adequate relief of symptoms. However, as many as 20 to 50 percent of patients who initially respond well to ECT treatment, suffer a relapse within six months, therefore, periodic maintenance therapy is often required.
Researchers at three medical schools, Harvard, University of Pittsburg and Medical College of Wisconsin, counducted a study entitled "Long Term Follow-up of Cortical Stimulation to Treat Major Depressive Disorder." They investigated ECT stimulation for patients with major depressive disorder.
The World Health Organization rates major depression as the top cause of disability worldwide, with an estimated 340 million people suffering from an episode of major depression every year. While most patients with major depression find relief through a combination of psychotherapy and medication, about 20 percent of patients fail to respond. Patients who are most resistant to medications, psychotherapies, and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have little hope of recovery, and suffer a heightened risk of suicide and mortality. Sadly, statistics show that the suicide rate in people with major depression is as high as 15 percent.
