Posted by med_empowered on March 7, 2005, at 18:31:34
In reply to ECT, posted by Regina on March 7, 2005, at 16:34:32
hey! I've never had ECT, but I did some research on the procedure...one reason so many bad reports pop up now is that psychiatrists have tended to ignore bad info. about ECT and have started to push for more use of it. The problem is this: a lot of the available data is really, really bad. The data seems to usually under-report cognitive problems following ECT (standard practice is to have the patient evaluated post-ECT by the administrator of the ECT; this is utterly unacceptable, but its even done in the ECT studies), so nobody really knows how good or bad the procedure is. In addition, although its common for ECT to be done in the non-dominant lobe now, its also common for docs to start out on the dominant lobe (seems to work better) or use the dominant lobe if a run with the non-dominant lobe doesn't work well. The problem here is that the dominant-lobe ECT seems to produce the most problems, and a lot of available data is based on non-dominant lobe ECT. In addition, ECT today involves sedating the patient beforehand, thank goodness...however, since sedatives/muscle relaxers also INCREASE the seizure threshold, higher levels of electricity need to be used than before heavy sedation was practiced. In addition, one major reason ECT is making a comeback is simple: MONEY. In the age of managed care, its sometimes hard to get patients covered for therapy, especially long-term...ECT, however, is often covered, and generously. I found this hard to believe, but then I researched in psychiatric journals...the ads for ECT training and the financial benefits of ECT were downright sickening. Anyway, here's what I've concluded: ECT seems to work for some people, but the data is really, really bad...from a statistical perspective, we're dealing with spotty info. and poor analysis. The rates of cognitive problems post-ECT are probably under-reported. That said, if you're at the end of your rope, it may work.
poster:med_empowered
thread:467874
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050304/msgs/467934.html