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| Research confirmed that TMS is an effective treatment for patients with depression who are unable to find symptom relief through antidepressant medications.--courtesy of Butler Hospital |
In a study that bodes well for the everyday use of transcranial magnetic stimulation to treat major depression, Butler Hospital researchers in Providence, RI have determined that the treatment works in real-world clinical practice settings. The conclusion was based on the evaluation of data from 42 clinical TMS practice sites in the United States and the details can be found in the journal Depression and Anxiety in the Wiley Online Library. Significantly, they found that the treatment helped relieve depressive symptoms in patients for whom antidepressant medications didn't work, supporting previous results in more formal clinical trials. TMS treatments have had FDA approval since 2008, the researchers note, but this study was among the first to show that the therapy helped improve patient outcomes in actual widespread clinical practice use. Neuronetics recently gained a CE mark for its NeuroStar TMS treatment device, following FDA approval in 2008. Release