Empowered Patient Podcast Using Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression with Dr. Josh Eloge Connected Neuroscience
Dr. Josh Eloge, Associate Director for the Woman's Board Treatment Research Center, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Rush University Medical Center, and Founder of Connected Neuroscience has a focus on treatment-resistant depression which is defined as depression that is not relieved by at least two first-line medications. Research has identified that TRD is associated with hyperactivity in a specific brain region, shifting attention from a chemical view of depression to a neurobiological one. Research on deep-brain stimulation and implantable technology is demonstrating neuromodulation and reductions in hyperactivity.
Josh explains, "So depression, kind of a low mood, is something that is universally experienced, right? It's part of the human condition to a certain extent. However, when a low mood persists for most of the time and is accompanied by problems with being able to enjoy things, disruptions in sleep, appetite, or even thoughts about life not being worth living, one might be experiencing something called a major depressive episode, part of a major depressive disorder. And this is a specific psychiatric disorder that requires attention. Frankly, there are poor outcomes associated with this. About one in five Americans will experience a major depressive episode at some time in their life, so it's a little bit more common than people might think, and there are some effective treatments. So in my work, both seeing patients and in the research that I do here at Rush, we're looking at major depressive episode and trying to think how can we best treat this disorder to get people back to being able to enjoy things that they like to do, being with their family, have meaningful work, these sorts of things."
"However, the research also shows that about a third of patients who try these different medications don't ultimately get the response that we are hoping for. And this has been termed treatment-resistant depression - when you try at least two of these first-line medications, but the symptoms are still present, and this is where a lot of the research that we've been working on in this specific population has been focused on."
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