The Science Section of the NY Times for 18 October had some interesting articles. In particular, there was an article about the use of MRI & Cat Scans to diagnose mental illness. The article claimed that such technology was successfull in diagnosing tumors and various physical anomalies, but was not helpful in diagnosing or curing depression and other types of mental illness. It mentioned that the failure was a disappointment to many who had high hopes for these technologies as diagnostic tools.
Greenberg and colleagues at Butler Hospital have focused on experimentation with deep brain stimulation—a nonablative technique in which a brain "lead," or wire 1.27 mm in diameter, is implanted stereotactically with MRI guidance into specific brain targets. The leads, which have four platinum-iridium electrode contacts, are connected via an extension wire to pulse generators—sometimes called "brain pacemakers"—typically placed in the chest. Greenberg noted that the procedure is already FDA approved for Parkinson’s disease and severe tremor and thus has the advantage of being familiar to neurosurgeons. A collaborative group at Butler Hospital/Brown University, the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, and the University of Florida, Gainesville, is testing the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of deep brain stimulation in patients with intractable OCD. The group also includes researchers at the University of Leuven in Belgium. Results so far are preliminary and are not ready for publication. Greenberg emphasized that patients chosen for the procedure have extraordinarily severe and intractable cases of OCD. "These are extremely disabled patients," he said. "Their compulsive rituals consume virtually their entire waking lives, and they have not responded to sustained treatment efforts with behavior therapy and medication. We definitely think there is a clinical need to investigate these procedures systematically." He underscored the caution with which the procedure—and others like it—are being investigated. "We don’t think it’s ready for widespread use at the current state of knowledge," Greenberg said. "We are particularly worried that there is a potential for that to happen outside of rigorously conducted research protocols, and we continue to educate our surgical colleagues about the need to view treatments as investigational." http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/39/1/28 http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00001284 They use MRI's for many types of things in order to help people with mental illnesses. Here are just two examples of its use in helping.
HEY Dinosaur....GREAT to see you have put about this on the boards at this forum. i only read about it meself earlier on, though i have of course known about it before throough various sources. this article merely confirms this VERY IMPORTANT information. I.e., the exposing of the evil scam cartel of government-pharmaceuticals-psychiatry etc
