Harvard Health Publishing Reports:
Quick Summary
A dramatically different approach to transcranial magnetic stimulation is promising, but needs further study.
If other tools do not help depression, the next line of treatment for some may be a noninvasive form of brain stimulation called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS is helpful in certain cases and has very few side effects.
Key Points
- Researchers from Stanford modified standard TMS techniques to create a novel protocol called Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT).
- SAINT condenses treatment into just 5 days, with 10 sessions per day.
- In a single, one-month study, 29 people with treatment-resistant depression were randomly assigned to receive SAINT or a sham version.
- At the end of the month, 78% in the SAINT group had experienced full remission compared with 7% in the sham group.
- Many questions must be answered before this novel treatment can be widely adopted.
The article states:
Depression care is an area of striking and ongoing need in this country. Advances like the SAINT protocol carry enormous potential, but also many unknowns. With such excitement about the results of the new approach, it is no surprise that clinics are springing up around the country offering similar accelerated TMS services. But how strictly will these clinics adhere to all elements of the SAINT protocol? We don’t have those answers, nor can we be sure yet that following all the elements will deliver the same results in larger, long-term studies.