Fri July 25/2008
Fri July 25/2008 |
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Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) is an effective form of treatment for people with depressions and other mood disorders. In studies of people treated with electroconvulsive therapy it has been found that 80% of such people report that they were helped by the treatments. About 75% say that ECT is no more frightening than going to the dentist. Who may actually need Electroconvulsive Therapy?ECT may be used in any of the following cases:
Some
depressed people simply do not respond to antidepressants or mood What happens in ECT - Electroconvulsive Therapy?The physician must fully explain the benefits and dangers of ECT, and the patient give consent, before ECT can be administered. The patient should be encouraged to ask questions about the procedure and should be told that consent for treatments can be withdrawn at any time, and in the event that this happens, the treatments will be stopped. After giving consent, the patient undergoes a complete physical examination, including a chest x-ray, electrocardiogram, and blood and urine tests. A series of ECTs usually consists of six to twelve treatments. Treatments can be administered to either in-patients or out-patients. Nothing should be taken by mouth for 8-hours prior to a treatment. An intravenous drip is started and through it medications to induce sleep, relax the muscles of the body, and reduce saliva are given. Once these medications are fully effective, an electrical stimulus is administered through electrodes to the head. The electrical stimulus produces brain wave (EEG) changes that are characteristic of a grand mal seizure. It is believed that this seizure activity leads to the clinical improvement seen after a series of ECT. About 30-minutes after the treatment the patient awakens from sleep. While confused at first, the patient is soon oriented enough to eat breakfast, and return home if the treatments are being done in an outpatient setting. Headaches, muscle soreness, nausea, and confusion are possible side effects immediately following an ECT procedure. Memory loss, typically transient, has also been reported in ECT patients. ECT causes severe memory problems for months or years in one out of every 200 patients treated. Other important points on Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)While ECT is a highly successful way of helping people come out of depressions, it has to be followed by antidepressant therapy. If antidepressants are not administered after a series of ECTs, there is a 50% relapse rate within 6-months. There is no scientific evidence that ECT causes brain damage. A woman who had over 1,000 ECT died of natural causes, and her brain was examined for evidence of ECT-induced brain damage. None was found. ECT does cause memory problems. These memory problems may take a number of months to clear. A small number of people who have received ECT complain of longer lasting memory problems. Such problems do not show up on psychological tests, it is not clear what causes them. |
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