 | Magnetic Treatment Studied for Depression
St. Louis, Feb. 26, 2004 — Depressed patients who have not been helped by antidepressant medications may be interested in a research study of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), an investigational treatment for depression.
Investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are seeking volunteers with clinical depression to learn whether rTMS might help alleviate symptoms. The investigational treatment involves placing a magnet on the head and stimulating key regions of the brain with electromagnetic fields. Unlike another depression treatment, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), rTMS does not require anesthesia, so patients can eat and drink what they want before treatment and often can drive themselves to and from their appointments.
Washington University is one of 16 sites around the United States currently testing rTMS as a depression treatment. Major depression is one of the most prevalent and debilitating diseases worldwide. Currently, only about one-third of patients treated with antidepressant drugs get rid of their clinical symptoms with a single course of treatment. Even after several rounds of treatment with antidepressant drugs, between 10 and 15 percent of patients remain depressed. For those patients, complex treatments involving multiple drugs or ECT are the only medical options.
“Preliminary studies of rTMS have reported changes in mood in non-depressed volunteers, and anecdotal reports have suggested that the treatment might improve symptoms in patients with clinical depression,” says Eileen M. Nickisch, Ph.D., the study coordinator at the Washington University site.
To be eligible for the study, participants must be between 18 and 70 years old and must have been diagnosed with depression within the last two years. The investigators are seeking people who have not been helped by antidepressant medications, and if patients currently are on medication for their depression, they must be willing to stop taking it during the course of the study.
Half of those who volunteer will receive rTMS therapy. The rest will receive an inactive placebo version of the treatment. Neither the investigators nor the study volunteers will know which participants are receiving rTMS during the first four weeks of the study. After that, the code will be broken and all participants will be given the option to receive rTMS therapy for the remainder of the study.
After the initial evaluation, participants will be required to come in to receive treatment every day (Monday through Friday) for six weeks, followed by three weeks of tapering off. Volunteers receive the treatments as outpatients. The initial evaluation takes an hour or more. Each subsequent visit lasts approximately 45 minutes. Participants receive free screenings, a physical exam, EKG, laboratory testing and rTMS treatment.
For more information or to volunteer for the study, call Eileen Nickisch at 314-362-1839 or toll free at 1-866-252-2700. ###
The full-time and volunteer faculty of Washington University School of Medicine are the physicians and surgeons of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare. |