Posted by Psychquackery on July 29, 2003, at 16:34:29
In reply to ECT/rTMS, posted by TJO on July 29, 2003, at 8:51:04
> Hi All,
> I am just curious. If someone is a non-responder to ECT, will rTMS work? Any info would be appreciated.
> Thanks
> Tammy
Tammy, as one who has personally completed a clinical trial of rTMS I can answer your question definitively. The answer is no, if someone is a non-responder to ECT, then its very unlikely someone will respond well to rTMS. ECT is a much, much more powerful treatment for severe and refractory mood disorders. Afterall the whole purpose of ECT is to cause a generalized grand mal seizure. The purpose of rTMS is to avoid one. rTMS is a much weaker somatic treatment for severe depression, due to the total lack of a generalized seizure.The seizure amounts to a massive, super potent anti-depressant/anti-manic and anti-psychotic theraputic effect. rTMS lacks this seizure, thus it lacks the potency of ECT.
On the other hand, itt is very likely that someone who failed to respond well to rTMS would respond well to ECT. ECT and rTMS are like apples and oranges, you cant really compare them.
Igor
poster:Psychquackery
thread:246432
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030728/msgs/246515.html