Researchers find potential new treatments for depression

By Staff Writer

In recent months, researchers have found a new neurosurgical treatment that could help people who are affected by depression. A team of experts from the School of Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol and the Department of Neurosurgery at North Bristol NHS Trust are currently developing new antidepressants, deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatments and stereotactic neurosurgery.

The patient in the study who was treated with DBS - which is the implantation of a brain pacemaker - was unresponsive to other forms of treatment. DBS provided temporary alleviation from symptoms, but advanced stereotactic neurosurgery provided the best results, according to the researchers.

The DBS trial was the first in the world to stimulate two different brain networks that are associated with depression. The purpose was to stimulate the areas of the brain that affect emotion.

According to the researchers, many options exist for sufferers of depression. However, after an antidepressant treatment fails, there is a greater chance that the next option will fail as well.

Research conducted by PBS shows that major depression affects approximately 15 million American adults - or about 8 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older - in a given year.