New Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment Helpful but Risky
March 8th, 2009I came across an interesting article at WebMD concerning a new obsessive compulsive disorder treatment being done by the French national research institute.
Basically, this obsessive compulsive disorder treatment uses electrodes that are implanted deep in the brain to reduce severe OCD symptoms, but it’s also very risky.
It is called deep brain stimulation and should only be considered if all else fails. It focuses on a specific brain region called the subthalamic nucleus, which is believed to help people coordinate their different behaviors.
16 patients with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder were chosen for this procedure, all of which still had severe symptoms despite previous treatment with drugs as well as cognitive-behavioral therapy. This new obsessive compulsive disorder treatment reduced the patient’s symptoms making their OCD more moderate and less severe.
But there are risks. Overall, there were serious side effects in 11 of the 17 patients who received this obsessive compulsive disorder treatment.
It is believed, that a higher current might have been more effective, but it would also have caused more side effects.
Studies for this obsessive compulsive disorder treatment are now under way in the U.S.
