Jacob28
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In the study, the researchers evaluated more than 300 possible volunteers for depression, using a standard scoring system.
They found 34 patients with moderate to severe depression. Five of the volunteers dropped out, leaving a total of 29 patients in the study.
The researchers then used a tent-like, whole-body hyperthermia device to raise the body temperatures of 15 of the patients to about 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
The patients got inside the tent-like device. Infrared lights and heating coils heated their chest and legs. Once their body temperature increased, the heat was turned off and the patients cooled down for one hour.
The remaining 14 participants were randomly assigned to a "sham" procedure. These patients were told to lie down inside the hyperthermia device with fans and lights on but they were exposed to much less heat than those who received the actual treatment.
Neither the researchers nor the patients knew if they received the real treatment or the sham therapy.
"Our sham intervention was so realistic that most of the participants (10 of 14) thought they were receiving the real treatment," Raison noted.
One week after treatment, the researchers re-evaluated each participant's depression symptoms, based on the same scoring method. Additional evaluations were conducted every two weeks for six weeks.
The researchers found that 60 percent of the patients responded to treatment and 40 percent met the criteria for remission from their depression.
The real hyperthermia therapy improved depression scores a week later by an average of almost 5.7 points above that produced by the sham treatment, the study found. At six weeks after treatment, the real treatment had still improved depression scores by about of 4.8 points.
"We were surprised to see that the effect (of reduced depression symptoms) was still present six weeks after the initial treatment," Raison said.
Self-reports from the volunteers also showed their symptoms of depression had eased slightly. The participants reported only minor adverse effects from the treatment.
The study authors said their results are encouraging, but larger studies are needed to determine exactly what temperature is most beneficial for patients and precisely how long people should be exposed to the heat.
The findings were presented recently at the annual meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry in Atlanta. The study was also published online May 12 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
WebMD News from HealthDay
Nice. Gonna try heating myself with a regular heat lamp.
They found 34 patients with moderate to severe depression. Five of the volunteers dropped out, leaving a total of 29 patients in the study.
The researchers then used a tent-like, whole-body hyperthermia device to raise the body temperatures of 15 of the patients to about 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
The patients got inside the tent-like device. Infrared lights and heating coils heated their chest and legs. Once their body temperature increased, the heat was turned off and the patients cooled down for one hour.
The remaining 14 participants were randomly assigned to a "sham" procedure. These patients were told to lie down inside the hyperthermia device with fans and lights on but they were exposed to much less heat than those who received the actual treatment.
Neither the researchers nor the patients knew if they received the real treatment or the sham therapy.
"Our sham intervention was so realistic that most of the participants (10 of 14) thought they were receiving the real treatment," Raison noted.
One week after treatment, the researchers re-evaluated each participant's depression symptoms, based on the same scoring method. Additional evaluations were conducted every two weeks for six weeks.
The researchers found that 60 percent of the patients responded to treatment and 40 percent met the criteria for remission from their depression.
The real hyperthermia therapy improved depression scores a week later by an average of almost 5.7 points above that produced by the sham treatment, the study found. At six weeks after treatment, the real treatment had still improved depression scores by about of 4.8 points.
"We were surprised to see that the effect (of reduced depression symptoms) was still present six weeks after the initial treatment," Raison said.
Self-reports from the volunteers also showed their symptoms of depression had eased slightly. The participants reported only minor adverse effects from the treatment.
The study authors said their results are encouraging, but larger studies are needed to determine exactly what temperature is most beneficial for patients and precisely how long people should be exposed to the heat.
The findings were presented recently at the annual meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry in Atlanta. The study was also published online May 12 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
WebMD News from HealthDay
Nice. Gonna try heating myself with a regular heat lamp.
