Depression recovery can be hard to measure − new research on deep brain stimulation shows how objective biomarkers could help make treatment more precise
Deep brain stimulation can alleviate treatment-resistant depression for some patients. PM Images/Digital Vision via Getty Images ~~~~~ It can be challenging to create a treatment plan for depression. This is especially true for patients who aren’t responding to conventional treatments and are undergoing experimental therapies such as deep brain stimulation. For most medical conditions, doctors can directly measure the part of the body that is being treated, such as blood pressure for cardiovascular disease. These measurable changes serve as an objective biomarker of recovery that provides valuable information about how to care for these patients. On the other hand, for depression and other...
A magnetic therapy for depression gains precision
Approved over a decade ago, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is moderately effective. Tailoring the treatment to individual brains may improve results. In the mid-1970s, a British researcher named Anthony Barker wanted to measure the speed at which electrical signals travel down the long, slender nerves that can carry signals from the brain to muscles like those in the hand, triggering movement. To find out, he needed a way to stimulate nerves in people. Researchers had already used electrodes placed on the skin to generate a magnetic field that penetrated human tissue — this produced an electric current that activated the peripheral nerves in the limbs. But the technique was...
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Research Team Elucidates Link Between Poor Sleep and Alzheimer’s Disease
Numerous studies over the past decade have established a strong link between poor sleep and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Poor sleepers have elevated levels of toxins in the brain, a hallmark of AD. However, the mechanism linking sleep to elevated toxin levels has remained unknown. Noam Alperin, PhD, professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Ritambhar Burman, a biomedical engineering graduate student, believe they have found that link. The team’s paper describing a mechanism that enhances removal of toxins from the brain during sleep, titled “CSF-to-blood toxins clearance is modulated by breathing through craniospinal CSF...
Despite Successes, Addiction Treatment Programs for Families Struggle to Stay Open
MORA, Minn. — Two playgrounds border the Recovering Hope Treatment Center for addiction that sits at the end of a gravel road in eastern Minnesota’s rural Kanabec County. A meeting room inside is furnished with rocking chairs and baby walkers. And there are strollers in the halls. Recovering Hope is one of only five providers in the state that offer family-based residential treatment, allowing women to enter the program while pregnant or to bring one of their children younger than 5 with them for the duration of their stay. Men can receive outpatient treatment but aren’t permitted in the residential program. It’s the only such residential program located in a rural Minnesota county and is...
