The University of Michigan is now recruiting applicants for their Clinical Study on the use and outcomes of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for treatment-resistant depression. In previous studies by a variety of organizations, TMS has proven to dramatically reduce and even clear the debilitating symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Dr. Scott West, a Psychiatrist as well as Founder and Medical Director of Nashville TMS, and whom has dedicated his career to helping patients overcome depression, reports that TMS is a relatively little-known depression treatment that delivers results proven effective in the long term.
Dr. West believes that the University of Michigan study is a much needed independent focus on TMS and its breakthrough results. Educational institutions' involvement in TMS studies is a step in the right direction for establishing TMS as a treatment favored by practitioners, payers and patients. He is hopeful that these types of studies will help raise awareness of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, as well as ensure that more people with treatment resistant-depression get the help they so clearly need and deserve.
"I am particularly pleased that more TMS studies are being conducted to officially and independently document the outstanding success rates we experience in our TMS practice every day", says Dr. West. "This serves all populations involved in TMS, as a win/win/win. The clinical providers win, the patients win, and the payers win. I believe that payers win because through these study outcomes, they will learn that TMS Treatment is considerably more effective at a far lower cost than other available treatments for Major Depressive Disorder in treatment-resistant patients."
The University of Michigan study will continue to recruit applicants through September or October. Researchers are looking for men and women between the ages of 22 and 65. To be eligible, applicants must be currently suffering from depression, and must have tried unsuccessfully at least one pharmaceutical antidepressant. Additionally, applicants must have been on antidepressants for the four weeks prior to starting the study. Various other criteria are also required, which can be reviewed at the University of Michigan TMS Study page. The Principal Investigator of the study is Stephan F. Taylor, who can be contacted via email at psych-rtms-study@med.umich.edu.
It is Dr. West's desire that more studies like the University of Michigan TMS Study will help make TMS treatment more widely available to those who so clearly need it.
Dr. West, actively involved in the Clinical TMS Society, believes that TMS is the most effective treatment option for eligible candidates. Twenty years ago, in 1995, he started following the development of TMS technology and its potential application for treating depression. TMS Treatment finally received FDA clearance thirteen years later, in 2008. Shortly thereafter, in 2010, Dr. West was the first psychiatrist to bring TMS Therapy to Tennessee, and began treating qualified patients.
For five years, Nashville TMS patients have experienced profound life-changing results. Based on these results, he enthusiastically promotes awareness of this revolutionary treatment and its profound benefits for those who suffer treatment-resistant MDD.
Nashville TMS uses NeuroStar TMS Therapy. Nashville TMS' patient success rate is over 75%. According to Dr. West, "When more study results are published, and more practitioners learn how to help their patients with TMS, I am convinced that it will become the absolute preferred standard of care for qualified patients."
Patients who have experienced the benefits of TMS are also eager to tell their stories. Some admit that they were desperate for relief for themselves or their families, and that after TMS Treatment they were finally able to find hope and enjoy life again, or that they are finding life easier to cope with, and most stating that they had their ‘life back’.
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Contact Nashville TMS:
W. Scott West, M.D.
615-327-4877
lisa@lisachapman.com
30 Burton Hills Blvd. Suite 360 Nashville, TN 37215
