0 Cured depression with a pacemaker in the brain

People with depression or bipolar disorder,
unresponsive to existing therapies, may be helped by a pacemaker in the brain, say U.S. researchers.

The device is implanted beneath the skull and sends electrical impulses deep within the brain.

A team of scientists under Dr. Ellen Meimpergk from the Medical School of Emory University in Atlanta, found that in just six months of treatment, 41% of patients had responded to it, with 18% being in full remission.

After two years, however, 92% of patients experienced alleviation of their symptoms, with 58% having complete remission.

In the study, whose findings are published in the journal "Archives of General Psychiatry» (AGP), involved 17 volunteers, some of whom suffered from bipolar disorder (formerly called manic depression) and others from major (severe) depression.

Those patients achieved remission of mental disorder, do not progressed as long the study lasted - with rates of depression are similar in depressed and manic depressive patients.

As explained researcher Dr. Paul Choltschaimer from Dartmouth Medical School, most of the participants were patients over several years in major depressive state and lived in institutions.

The deep brain stimulation is a method that has been found that can help patients with certain neurological problems.

In fact, it is approved in the U.S. by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder and Parkinson's disease.

How is

The placement of the pacemaker occurred in the following by placing two fine wires and a pacemaker for each patient.

One end of a cable connected to the right side of the brain and is the second to the left. The wire was passed under the skin on the neck of patients reaching up high in the chest, where they were connected to the pacemaker.

This process is similar to that used for the placement of the cardiac pacemaker.

The pacemakers were emitting electricity at regular intervals, depending on the arrangement had been made by doctors.

As you ease symptoms of patients, the researchers made the necessary adjustments to the pacemaker.

The whole process is quite safe and does not destroy part of the brain. However, it is still considered experimental for treatment of depression.