I’ve been interested in deep brain stimulation (DBS) since first reading of it about two, maybe three, years ago. Back then it was in the very early stages of research with only a handful of DBS operations successfully completed, and I had hoped it would soon prove itself as an effective treatment for refractory (treatment-resistant) depression and be in widespread use by now.
Such is not the case, though, as the DBS research is still in the “proof of principle” stage of research with published results available for only 46 patients with depression. As for the published results, they indicate DBS yielded improvements in 35% to 60% of depressed subjects.
Image via Wikipedia
What? Doesn’t sound like much? Well, if we take into account that the only way one can access DBS as a treatment option is by being part of a research study, and then factor in that to be included in such a study all other treatment options first were exhausted and one’s symptoms continued being severe and incapacitating, that anyone who qualified to be a subject for such research would realize benefit from the treatment is at least somewhat encouraging from my perspective.
There remain numerous problems to be resolved before DBS transitions from being an investigational technique to an accepted form of treatment. For now, we’ll just have to hold tight and hope that DBS will prove to be an effective, safe treatment for all of those who have found no benefit from the options they had tried.
I will be posting updates on this fascinating branch of research as I learn more.
Till then, I’ll catch you out on the trail — Dr. Brown