Using OpenEvidence to Combat ECT Stigma: Provocative Test Question


 

Here, IMO, is a slightly provocative test question that OE answers definitively and with nuance. The labeling of ECT as "non-invasive" is particularly apt and helpful. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ECT plus Antidepressants: a Review

Out on PubMed, from researchers in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, is this review: Influence of an adjuvant antidepressant on the efficacy of  electroconvulsive  therapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Pluijms EM, Kamperman AM, Hoogendijk WJ, Birkenhäger TK, van den Broek WW. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2020 Sep 8:4867420952543. doi: 10.1177/0004867420952543. Online ahead of print. PMID:  32900217 Here is the "Conclusion" section from the text: Our results suggest that an adjuvant antidepressant enhances the efficacy of ECT in patients with major depression. Although the included studies had some methodological limitations, effect sizes were consistently small to moderate. We speculate that modern-day controlled trials using adequately dosed TCAs and MAOIs will most likely result in larger effect sizes. From a clinical point of view, we prefer an adjuvant TCA to an adjuvant MAOI, since TCAs are generally safe to use with ECT ( American Psychiatric Association, 2001 ; ...
Read more

Happy Birthday to Max Fink!

Image
Happy 102nd birthday to Max Fink, MD! Max Fink, an icon in our field, is one of the most influential ECT researchers, practitioners and advocates of all time. He has also been a friend and mentor to many of us in the ECT world, and we owe him a great debt of gratitude. Please join me in wishing him all the best today!                                                    Max Fink, October 2024, with Andrea and Charles Kellner
Read more

ECT Generates a Postictal Wave of Spreading Depolarization in Mice and Humans

Image
 Out on PubMed, from authors in the USA, is this paper: Electroconvulsive  therapy generates a postictal wave of spreading depolarization in mice and humans. Rosenthal ZP, Majeski JB, Somarowthu A, Quinn DK, Lindquist BE, Putt ME, Karaj A, Favilla CG, Baker WB, Hosseini G, Rodriguez JP, Cristancho MA, Sheline YI, William Shuttleworth C,  Abbott CC , Yodh AG, Goldberg EM. Nat Commun. 2025 May 18;16(1):4619. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59900-1. PMID:  40383825 The abstract is copied below: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a fast-acting, highly effective, and safe treatment for medication-resistant depression. Historically, the clinical benefits of ECT have been attributed to generating a controlled seizure; however, the underlying neurobiology is understudied and unresolved. Using optical neuroimaging of neural activity and hemodynamics in a mouse model of ECT, we demonstrated that a second brain event follows seizure: cortical spreading depolarization (CSD). We found th...
Read more