Chris
Posting #3
Health
"Treating Depression with Electrodes in the Brain."
By Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Andy Segal
CNN.com April 14 2012
1 page, 2005 words
A women by the name of Edi Guyton had been suffering from deep stages of depression for pretty much her whole life. As a little girl Edi told her mom that smiling was stupid because she felt like there was no reason to smile and that everyone else who did was faking it. At the age of 19 she first tried to commit suicide, she said it was because "I think I wanted it to get better or I wanted to die."This depression then controlled the rest of her life, until she found a doctor by the name of Hellen Mayberg. Hellen Mayberg in 1999 started experimenting with DBS, deep brain simulation, and was trying to use it as a way to cure Depression. The idea was to go into Area 25 of the brain, which controls your emotions and happiness. They would put little batteries that with the width of Angel Hair pasta into your brain to try and stimulate happiness inside the brain. In 2003 Mayberg had six patients that were all extremely depressed. After they put the two batteries in the brains of these patients in only minutes they started saying the colors of the room were brighter jumped out. Out of the six patients 4 showed great signs of depression going away. For 40 years Edi Guyton tried to put her depression by keeping her self working, she got Tenur at GSU and had two little baby girls. But alas the depression had caught up with her and she attempted suicide yet again by over dosing on her depression medication that she was given. As a last resort Edi went to Mayberg for this operation, out of 1,000 patients that applied 17 were chosen and Edi was one of them. During the operation Edi cried, not because it hurt but because she knew someone was drilling into her brain to fix her. After the batteries were put in her head Edi chuckled and laughed, Mayberg asked why, and she answered "because I almost smiled. So I chuckled." After fighting with depression her whole life Edi was finally cured and hasn't looked back since. Doctor Mayberg on the other hand has been wondering many things about this cure: "is this knocking down a wall? or flicking a switch?" "To be brutally honest, we have no idea how this works." But it has helped many patients for years now and is still helping many patients that are qualified for the operation.
Many people suffer from depression, Edi Guyton is one of these victims. She has suffered for her entire life. When she was 19 she tried to commit suicide for the first time. She found Hellen Mayberg who in 1999 began experimenting with deep brain stimulation to control and treat depression. Her idea was to put little batteries that with the width of Angel Hair pasta into your brain to try and stimulate happiness inside the brainIn 2000 Mayberg had six patients and four showed signs of their depression going away. Guyton tried to live her life normally and even had two baby girls, but as a last resort she went to Mayberg for the operation. 1000 patients applied and 17, including Guyton were chosen. This procedure has helped many people and will continue to be a huge part of treating depression.
ReplyDeleteIt is tragic to see the tragic misery depression can cause. Many branches of medicine focus on healing the ails of the body, and it is relieving to see new branches of medicine that can focus on mental and psychological issues such as depression. I am intrested in how the batteries work. Do they send out impules to specific neurons, or do they just release electricity in a general area to stimulate all of the neurons in the area? Regarless of how they work, the story of Edi Guyton is very inspiring. Her children and family will be so happy to have their mother back. It also demonstrates that many times one type of medicine will not be a universal fix. Edi was prescribed depression medication for years, but it did not ease her depression. This revolutionary surgery will be a solution and salvation for many how had no hope before.
ReplyDeleteEdi Guyton is only one of many people who suffer from depression. For these people, there is almost no happiness to life and suicide seems to be the only option, as it was to Guyton when she was only 19 years old. This new surgery -- putting batteries into certain parts of people's brains in order to cure depression -- seems to actually work, as it worked on Guyton and 4 of the 6 people on whom it was tested. Although scientists don't yet know why this surgery cures depression, they should continue administering it on those suffering depression; maybe they will soon discover why it works. This surgery is quite different from the depression drugs that were previously thought to be the best solution. The fact that Guyton's depression was almost magically cured will provide hope to the many who suffer every day from depression.
ReplyDeleteIt is incredible how electrical stimulation on Area 25 of the brain, the part that controls emotions, can lead to increased happiness for depression patients, and is even more amazing how Dr. Hellen Meyberg came up with the idea to use electrical stimulants rather than typical chemical stimulants used by most anti-depressant drugs today. It is discoveries like this one in medicine that show how improved technology can also save and change many lives, since incredibly precise mechanisms must be used to put two of these tiny batteries into the brain, especially because the brain is such a fragile and crucial organ; surgeries requiring such delicacy could not even be dreamed of hundreds of years ago. Still, we have a lot more to learn about in terms of how the brain functions since Dr. Mayberg herself said that she had "no idea how this works." Hopefully with more research of the brain and improved brain surgery technology, we will also be able to learn how other neurological diseases occur and how they can prevented, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, brain cancer, as well as continuing to learn more about depression. With only 17 out of 1000 patients treated, this shows how little effective treatment a serious and potentially deadly case of depression can receive; one of the patients, Edi Guyton attempted to commit suicide not once, but twice, which means that depression has serious implications and is not to be taken lightly, but it is a great sign that it can be cured with our improving medical capabilities since 4 out of the 6 patients so far receiving treatment, including Guyton, have been cured of depression.
ReplyDeleteTo look at Edi's whole life and only see depression is very sad. She struggled her entire life ever since she was a little girl, it is amazing she finally got happiness. Her failed attempts at suicide just proved that it was not her time to go and she needed to keep on living. And since then she finally got her happiness.
ReplyDeleteHaving many friends that suffered from depression I know how helpless people can sometimes feel in this state of their life. However I find it amazing that doctors can perform this complex procedure and stimulate the areas of the brain that are responsible for response to happiness and other sorts of emotions. But I do not think that this is the solution to depression. Depression is caused in many forms but messing around with the brain isnt right, the person with the depression should be able to fight it herself/himself, or else they will not beat depression 100 percent, its all up to the person not the medication and other methods.
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