Posted by SLS on April 20, 2001, at 16:57:39
In reply to Re: Globe and Mail Article From dj on ADs (long), posted by SLS on April 17, 2001, at 21:25:46
I think I mistook the meaning of the following passage:
> > About 18 per cent of people who did not respond to drugs responded to them after a year's use of the implant.
I had replied:
> The only investigated I know of designed specifically to test VNS for treatment-resistant depression is a pilot study that yielded a 40% response rate. Perhaps the results of a large-scale study have been recently reported. I don't know.
When I reread the passage more closely, I realized that the reference to an 18% response rate was not a description of the antidepressant efficacy of VNS. Rather, it seems that 18% of those patients who used the VNS device for a year or more became responsive to those medications that had previously been ineffective. I think ECT might produce a similar effect, but I would have to look into it more closely.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:60209
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010417/msgs/60615.html