Posted by Karen44 on January 14, 2007, at 21:13:39
In reply to Re: ECT causes permanent cognitive deficits + amnesia, posted by linkadge on January 14, 2007, at 12:34:15
> I'd be more inclined to believe the negative study. It was larger and followed patients for longer.
>
> LinkadgeBe careful about buying hook line and sinker what Sackeim says. He has not been upfront about many things and has in the past not reported data that did not support his position. Even with this study, many of the measures he used are not the best from neuropsychology. Added to this he is now advocating right unilateral ECT at levels six timesand more above the seizure threshold level. He found effectiveness for treating depression at that level but even with his shoddy measures, he found cognitive impairments at such a high level of stimulus intensity. He was, however, inclined to gloss over this fact. Added to this, he advocates the three times per week which then means does not allow the brain a rest from such high stimulus intensities. Sometimes I wonder if the man is a sadist and then has so many psychiatrists following his lead. There is no good reason for three times per week unless someone is on the verge of suicide, and even then I think there are other alternatives. Many countries use twice per week and even once per week treatment. It's a primarily U.S. thing to administer ECT three times per week and is partly related to what the insurance companies want--fast and over with. Just something to keep in mind. Study results are often couched in terms the researcher wants one to take away from the study. RE rTMS, I would suggest as well looking more closely at the available literature thus far. We just don't know yet if it is safer or better than ECT. It looks as if that might be so, but there have also been some problems with this as well such as seizures and strokes. What does it mean for the brain depending upon where one does the treatment? This is still unanswered.
Karen44
poster:Karen44
thread:722128
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070113/msgs/722363.html