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Day in Health
by Lisa Collier Cool
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A new experimental therapy used to treat depression showed promising results in a new study published in the Journal of American Medicine Psychiatry. The
new treatment stimulates the brain with a mild electrical current, using only 1/400th the charge of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). What's more, it appears to achieve similar results without such side effects as memory problems. The study looked at 120 patients with major depressive disorder who were not previously on antidepressants. It's the largest study of its type to date and the first to compare the new treatment with antidepressant medication. Researchers compared this new treatment, called transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, with the antidepressant drug sertraline (Zoloft). The treatment was found to be as effective as a low dose of Zoloft. Combining the two treatments saw better results than did each treatment used separately. After six weeks, researchers looked at changes in the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scalea questionnaire designed to measure the severity of depressive episodesand found a clinically significant difference
Risks of ECT also include heart rate and blood pressure increases. In rare cases, this may lead to heart problems.