Posted by Deahoidar on November 21, 2015, at 23:27:28
In reply to Re: Recruiting TRD patients for LFMS study, posted by Hugh on November 20, 2015, at 11:12:35
How I hope and wish that LFMS (or whatever they want to call it) would actually be proven to be significantly effective at treating MDD. It really needs some well-designed double-blind clinical trials to establish some credibility.
The studies to-date (e.g., Rohan et al) have been interesting but lacked much-needed rigorous scientific design.
Namely, the study wasn't designed to measure the duration of improvement. Mood was evaluated shortly after treatment but not subsequent assessments were performed. Not even 24 hours later.
Another significant concern regards the questionable reliability of the outcome measures over such short periods of time. The study used a scale that requires assessment of patient condition over the past week. How useful can that be when it is used to measure changes over less than an hour?
I'm also concerned by the small size of the study and the fact that it was not a double-blind study.
I truly hope the scientists design and conduct rigorous clinical trials to determine the efficacy of this potential treatment. For patients suffering from the more severe and insidious forms of MDD, simply waving magnets over their heads doesn't cut it and sounds like something all those well meaning people say to "help".
poster:Deahoidar
thread:1083692
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20151119/msgs/1084112.html