Posted by linkadge on July 21, 2006, at 19:16:08
In reply to Re: Worked as RN in ECT dept., posted by Crazy Horse on July 21, 2006, at 17:03:41
I guess my argument was that the community of psychiatrtic patients is often taken advantage of based on the fact that treatment side effects are often pawned off to the underlying illness.
Memory loss from ECT does not necessarily have to present itself right away. The loss may not be obvious right away since you may not use a specific certain part of your brain everyday. Its just like how memory loss in Alzheimer's can often progress for a while without the patient being aware. The idea is that if you don't remember somthing, then you may not detect its absence.
The *dammage* detected in some animal models of ECT, extend beyond possable alteration to hippocampal formation. There is a lot of collateral damamge. You are sending an electic charge through the brain. It is not always 100 percent certain which path the current will take.
Its just like how two people can be physically electrocuted and one can die while the other doesn't, it really depends on the path that the current took through the body.
Many of the molecular actions of ECT are seen in patients who have had epileleptic seizures. Long term memory and cognitive complaints can often be seen in this patient group.
There is an article here which may be usefull.
http://www.ect.org/resources/memory_cognitive.pdf
For a psychiatrist to convince me its safe, I'd like to have him jump down on the table, and zap himself...."see.....its safe". They're not going to do that.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:667778
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060717/msgs/669144.html