Magnet Therapy May Help Those Who Suffer from Depression

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Magnet Therapy May Help Those Who Suffer from Depression

(August 9, 2007) -- The brain is one of the great frontiers of modern medicine. Now, some San Antonio scientists are trying a new way using magnets to help people suffering from depression. If it works, it will be a major breakthrough.

Rhinnie of New Braunfels is part of a brave new world of depression therapy. After 20 years of suffering, drugs have failed to help him, so he's trying something new and experimental.

"It's had a severe impact. It's pretty much devastated by personal life and my career. I see this kind of as a last resort," said Rhinnie, a study volunteer in the transcranial magnetic stimulation study at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

In the Research Imaging Center, a machine matches Rhinnie's anatomy to an MRI scan. Then a robot arm slides into place lining up a magnet that's going to fire off 3,000 pulses over the next 30 minutes.

"It creates electrical currents, which actually fire the neurons in the brain. And so we're trying to fire them in a controlled way, so that we can re-train them," said Peter Fox, a brain researcher.

The magnet is placed over the left front part of the head, changing the firing patterns of specific circuits involved in emotion and mood.

Sometimes patients feel a slight pain on their head while the magnet fires, but other than that, there's no sensation.

Patients in the study are treated once a day for three to six weeks. Rhinnie is hopeful.

"I'm not asking to be cured. Just an improvement of the symptoms that I have, so that I can have the quality of life that most people have," Rhinnie said.

According to the Society of Biological Psychiatry, 1 in 5 patients with depression are not helped by standard therapy. If transcranial magnetic stimulation works, it could help thousands of people.

"The biggest advantage is that it's non-pharmacological, and the side-effect profile is really remarkably safe," Fox said.

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The magnet therapy is already in use in Canada and part of Europe. If the United States trials are successful, the Food and Drug Administration could approve it in the next couple of years.

UTHSC is looking for volunteers with depression who would like to take part in the magnet study. For more information, call (210) 562-5400 or (888) 255-6563.

By: Wendy Rigby KENS 5 Eyewitness News
Source: MySA.com

Last updated: 08/07

Magnet Therapy May Help Those Who Suffer from Depression

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