TMS (neither TMS nor TMD) is also not associated with any long-term side effects. Short-term side effects that have been reported include scalp discomfort and headache that often go away during the first week of treatment. According to several clinical studies, no long-term side effects have been reported from EMT treatment. People with treatment-resistant depression can safely receive EMT therapy without worrying that there will be long-term impacts of this specific form of treatment.
No adverse effects have been associated with long-term EMT therapy. Antidepressant medications and psychotherapy have helped relieve symptoms of depression in millions of people. But these methods do not bring relief for everyone. Some people experience intolerable side effects from medications, and for others, they don't work at all.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive, drug-free alternative treatment for major depressive disorder. Studies have shown that up to 60% of people with treatment-resistant depression experience improvement in their symptoms with EMT therapy. And for about a third of them, TMS completely eliminates their symptoms. The results don't last forever, but even a few months of relief can make a significant difference to a person's quality of life.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has emerged as a promising treatment for affective disorders in humans, but the neuronal basis for its long-lasting effects on the brain is still unknown. We studied the acute and lasting effects of TMS on the reactivity of the rat hippocampus to perforating pathway stimulation. The application of TMS to the brain of the anesthetized rat caused a transient dose-dependent increase in the response to the population peak (PS) of the dentate gyrus to perforating pathway stimulation. In addition, EMT caused a marked decrease in inhibition and an increase in the potentiation of pulse reactivity matched to perforating pathway stimulation.
In addition, EMT suppressed the ability of fenfluramine (FFA), a serotonin releaser, to potentiate the PS response to perforating pathway stimulation. Chronic TMS did not affect the peaks of a single population, but caused an increase in paired pulse potentiation, which was still evident 3 weeks after the last of seven daily EMT treatments. After chronic TMS, FFA were ineffective in improving reactivity to perforating pathway stimulation, probably because they lost the ability to release serotonin. In addition, the adrenergic receptor agonist β isoproterenol, which caused an increase in PS in control rats, did not do so in rats treated with TMS.
These results indicate that TMS results in a long-term reduction in the effectiveness of central modulator systems. EMT therapy or transcranial magnetic stimulation offers an alternative treatment option for patients suffering from depression who do not respond to the classic treatment approach of psychotherapy and antidepressants. Unlike medications, EMT therapy has a much shorter list of side effects. Side effects of EMT treatment are also less common.
However, EMT therapy may carry some risk of side effects. It is possible that both drugs in combination, even if they are not a dangerous combination, along with their EMT treatments can now improve the triggering side effect. An effect of TMS on BDNF levels has been suggested; however, only immediate or short-term alterations with wide variability in outcomes were studied, especially for low-frequency RTMs (see Discussion). Again, like everything in medicine, you will find people spreading unscientific rumors about the side effects of EMT therapy that are not supported by clinical evidence.
EMT therapy has been shown to help successfully treat people with TRD, and despite the common misconception, EMT therapy has no long-term side effects. Therefore, the differences observed in this study between the effects of RTM on the hippocampus, prelimbic cortex and striatum may simply reflect the different neuroplastic nature of these regions. As a non-invasive treatment, Deep TMS is a safe, proven and effective course of therapy with relatively minor and transient side effects. Therefore, the absence of effect measured 3 days after the last stimulation session may not be surprising and emphasizes the need to reassess the potential long-term clinical benefits of low-frequency MRT.
Interestingly, these two chronic effects of EMT play opposite roles in the hippocampus; the first, reduced feedback inhibition and increased potentiation of the paired pulse, causes increased excitability, while the second, reducing the effectiveness of FFA and isoproterenol, acts to decrease excitability of the hippocampus. The most common side effect, reported in about half of patients treated with EMR, is headaches. There were no effects of RTM treatment on GluR1 and pGluR1 levels in the prelimbic cortex or striatum. It appears that EMT may have a long-term action on serotonin release, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect are not yet clear.
However, there is a lack of evidence of the lasting, rather than immediate, effects of several RTM sessions on neuroplasticity. Post hoc analysis revealed that high-frequency stimulation caused a significant increase in BDNF levels in the hippocampus (p %3D 0.01), while low-frequency MRTS had no effect relative to sham controls. If so, this may explain why FFAs are no longer effective and why the serotonin agonist 5-HT1a 8-OH-DPAT is able to potentiate the response to stimulation. .
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