Not All Magnets Are Quacks

In December last year I acknowledged that magnets can have a role in medical treatment. This was for ‘transcranial magnetic stimulation’ (TMS) therapy in depression, where positive results were to be submitted to the FDA for approval of the treatment. Well, the FDA has spoken, and the NeuroStar TMS Therapy system is approved for use in patients with treatment-resistant clinical depression. At present, only a few centers are equipped with the TMS therapy device, but that, hopefully, will change. Full information on the treatment are given in the approved “Directions for Use” for the device.

NeuroStar claims that more than 10,000 active TMS treatments have been done without any safety problems, such as sedation, nausea, dry mouth, changes in concentration or memory, or seizures – things that might occur as side effects of antidepressant drugs. The only side effect of TMS therapy appears to be mild to moderate scalp pain or discomfort at the treatment area during therapy, which declines after the first week of treatment.

It should be recorded that in early 2007 an FDA Advisory Panel voted against approval of the NeuroStar TMS therapy, as being insufficiently effective. However, there was confusion as to the best comparison they should use – present-day antidepressant drugs or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Maybe this approval will renew enthusiasm for magnetic insoles for foot pain, which represent an enormous market worldwide. Well, they don’t work . . .