Hope is one of the hardest things to muster when suffering deep depression. Unfortunately, too many lose that last ember of hope. I'm publishing a couple of really exciting links. I've mentioned before that there are numerous DBS studies around. I usually only hear from those in the US in the St. Jude study.
The first is great news - if the USA can find the money. It confirms what I predicted many blogs back - that the amount of research and technology advancements that we've seen in the last 30 years regarding the heart, will be replaced by research of the brain. (throw in the human genome project as another great step forward). Here is the NY Times link, but HOPEfully everyone suffering from depression understands the potential of 10 years of concentrated study of the brain:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/science/project-seeks-to-build-map-of-human-brain.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Next up, and the impetus for me to write about it is the research in Germany where they are implanting it yet another area. I won't attempt to explain the different areas being explored but they all seem to be interconnected in a circuit, that when disrupted, provides relief from this Hell called Major Depressive Disorder.
http://neurosciencenews.com/deep-brain-stimulation-medial-forebrain-bundle-success-major-depression-patients/
Another link about the same study: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/brain-pacemaker-to-treat-acute-depression-113041000157_1.html
And here is the HOPE... for anyone wishing they could get in a study or find ANY way to rid themselves of this disease, hang on. This is the third "successful" area of the brain that I am aware of to be probed. I personally believe we will discover there are multiple 'depressions' and different treatments will be developed for each. I've seen the inside research on some new TMS that is outstanding (but not yet available at your pharmacy).
Not being a brain surgeon, I'm not sure if this is the same area Bonn
was playing with before or not. It sounds like a new area - so there
may be 4 areas being studied, plus things like VNS and TMS.
But this is exciting news.
There is good reason to have HOPE.
