Neuro-electrical stimulation

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Neuroelectric stimulation , also neuroelectric stimulation or NES written is an alternatively-medical , non-established and not sufficiently scientifically occupied and hence not evidence-based method for the treatment of addictive disorders by the application of electric current. It is applied over adhesive electrodes, which are usually placed behind the ear. The voltage used is low (battery-operated 6-volt or 9-volt devices).

prehistory

Electric currents have been used in medicine for several thousand years to treat various diseases, nowadays it is often battery current from 6-volt or 9-volt batteries. Scientific research on electrical stimulation (ES) began around 1900 in France by Leduc and Rouxeau. Different procedures are considered to be the forerunners of the current and modern NES. Many scientists and practitioners have developed their own devices and their own electrical impulse patterns and frequencies for their procedures and then gave these procedures their own names. Examples are: Auricular electrostimulation, Cranial Electrostimulation (CES), Sub-Perception Electrical Stimulation (SPES), Electrosleep, NeuroElectric Therapy (NET), Transcranial Electrotherapy (TCET), Transcutaneous Cranial Stimulation (TCES), Limoge technique, Cerebral Electrotherapy (CET ), Transcranial Electric Treatment (TET), neuromodulation, alpha induction therapy, Transcutaneous Spinal Electroanalgesia (TSE), Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS or TNS), Acupuncture-like TENS (AL-TENS), Microcurrent Electrical Therapy (MET), Microcurrent Electrical Therapy (MET).

A completely different application that has nothing to do with NES is the so-called electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The only thing they have in common is that both methods are used to treat psychiatric illnesses. The main difference, however, is that the modern NES devices are used with conscious, awake patients and only produce very low voltages (6 or 9 volts). The devices for ECT, on the other hand, generate very strong electrical currents that cause epileptic seizures and occasional unconsciousness in the patient.

Margret Patterson

More by chance, the Scottish doctor Margret Patterson (also known as Meg Patterson) made a discovery in 1970 while working in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong in the 1970s, opium consumption was just as widespread as alcohol consumption in Europe today. For this reason, hospitalized patients in Hong Kong have often developed opiate withdrawal symptoms. At some point, Meg Patterson noticed that a certain group of patients had no problems with this frequent opiate withdrawal. These were the patients who had to undergo neurosurgery in their hospital and, in this context, had received a certain form of electro-acupuncture for anesthesia and pain treatment after the operation. These patients reported that for the first time after this electro-acupuncture they no longer felt any withdrawal, no addictive pressure, or no desire for the drug. Meg Patterson and her colleagues Wen and Cheung then began to systematically research this phenomenon. The use of electrical current via acupuncture needles in the auricle led to the expected improvement in pain relief and at the same time also had a reducing effect on heroin and opium withdrawal symptoms. In further research, Patterson found that the use of adhesive electrodes was just as effective as the needles. Since the needles were uncomfortable and also very annoying during sleep, the adhesive electrodes were a simple and elegant solution. They could also be used to aid sleep during the night. Numerous publications (e.g.) made the process known. After her chance discovery, she used the method specifically for the treatment of drug addicts and researched the effect with scientific methods. As the procedure proved itself, she continued to develop her own devices and the Neuro-Electric Therapy (NET) procedure over the next 30 years. Through countless attempts, she found the right frequencies and stimulation patterns for stimulating the corresponding neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, beta-endorphin, dynorphin, enkephalin. With this method, it was possible to stimulate the brain in just 20 minutes of sessions to restart the corresponding transmitter production, the production of which was disturbed due to the drugs consumed. After returning to England, Meg Patterson opted for addiction medicine and neuro-electrical therapy and against working in classical surgery. She devoted herself exclusively to addiction therapy with NET. She founded a withdrawal clinic, researched the process scientifically and developed it further. She detoxified celebrities like Keith Richard from the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Pete Townsend from The Who. Not only because of this, Meg Patterson became famous. She died in 2002. Their children Myrrh and Lorne and their son-in-law Joe Winston took over their inheritance and the task of developing and using NET in their interest.

commitment

The NES is used instead of drug therapy for a number of diseases or conditions. These include pain syndromes, anxiety disorders, depression, sleep disorders and, above all, addiction disorders. There are more or less scientific researches and studies on the use of the NES for all these diseases, which are supposed to prove their effect.

The FDA approved electrical stimulation therapy in the United States for the treatment of anxiety disorders associated with addictions in 1978. Since 1993, the manufacturers of neurostimulation devices have had to undergo an examination process before they are sold. Since it is not a drug, the test is of a purely technical nature and there is still no evidence-based proof of effectiveness.

Use of the NES for addiction, withdrawal and pressure

A common area of ​​application for the NES is withdrawal from addictions. In addition, it should also be possible to influence the diseases and complaints that typically occur during withdrawal (physical pain, sleep disorders, depressive states, anxiety disorders, stress states, cognitive dysfunction, protracted withdrawal).

In 1984, Meg Patterson described in a large, open human study that 95% of her patients reported having been free of addictive pressure at the end of three to ten days of neuro-electrical therapy treatment. 75% were free from fear. In addition, the success rate with the withdrawal treatments was unusually high and the recurrence rate with a long-term follow-up was relatively low. In a later study from 1994, Patterson also describes that the patients treated with neuro-electrical therapy, in contrast to the conventionally drug-assisted withdrawn patients, also perform better in another respect. They are statistically significant of greater mental and emotional clarity, are more positive and were more hopeful. She attributed this to the degree of relief from withdrawal symptoms, with the majority reporting between 50 and 75% symptom relief, and some between 75 and 95%. All patients with more than 50% symptom relief no longer needed any additional medication to treat withdrawal symptoms. Other authors found that a significant improvement in opiate withdrawal symptoms was found in heroin addicts with alternating stimulation. An open clinical study with over 500 heroin patients in withdrawal showed that, in addition to the objective withdrawal symptoms, sleep and well-being also improved. A controlled study of alcohol addicts also showed a significantly reduced craving pressure in the group of genuinely treated people in contrast to the sham-treated control group.

literature

  • MA Mahmood, AJR Macdonald, FD Law: Treatment of Patients with Addiction Problems by Means of Electrical Stimulation: A Review of the Rationale and Studies, for AWP Clinical & Practice Governance Effectiveness and Therapeutics Committee. 2005. http://www.nescure.de/page34/files/Review_Electrostimulation.pdf
  • M. Patterson: The gentle withdrawal. A new biomedical process. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-608-95960-2 .
  • RB Smith: Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation. Tate Publishing, Oklahoma 2007.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ AJR Macdonald: A brief review of the history of electrotherapy and its union with acupuncture. In: Acupuncture in Medicine. 11 (2), 1993, pp. 66-75.
  2. ^ S. Leduc: Production of sleep and general and local anesthesia by intermittent current of low voltage. In: Arch d'Electric Med. 10, 1902, pp. 617-621.
  3. ↑ This list was taken from the overview by Mahmood et al. (2005).
  4. ↑ a b H. L. Wen, SYC Cheung: Treatment of drug addiction by acupuncture and electrical stimulation. In: Asian Journal of Medicine. 9, 1973, pp. 138-141.
  5. ^ MA Patterson: Acupuncture and NeuroElectric Therapy in the treatment of drug and alcohol addictions. In: Australian Journal of Alcohol and Drug Dependence. 2, 1975, pp. 90-95.
  6. ↑ M. Patterson: Getting off the hook. Addictions can be cured by NET (NeuroElectric Therapy). Harold Shaw Publishers, Wheaton Ill 1983, ISBN 0-87788-305-X .
  7. ^ M. Patterson: Hooked? NET: The new approach to drug cure. Faber & Faber, London / Boston 1986, ISBN 0-571-13787-3 .
  8. ↑ K. Richard: Life. Heyne Verlag, Munich 2010, p. 522f.
  9. ^ Food and Drug Administration: Proposed rules, neurobiological devices; cranial electrotherapy stimulators; premarket approval requirement. In: Federal Register. 58 (167), 1993, pp. 45865-45867.
  10. ^ MA Patterson, J. Firth, R. Gardiner: Treatment of drug, alcohol and nicotine addiction by NeuroElectric Therapy: Analysis of results over 7 years. In: Journal of Bioelectricity. 3 (1,2), 1984, pp. 193-221.
  11. ↑ M. Patterson, E. Krupitsky, N. Flood, D. Baker, L. Patterson: Amelioration of stress in chemical dependency detoxification by transcranial electrostimulation. In: Stress Medicine. 10, 1994, pp. 115-126.
  12. ↑ Patterson MA, Patterson L., Flood NV, Winston JR, Patterson SI: Electrostimulation in drug and alcohol detoxification. Significance of stimulation criteria in clinical success. A review and commentary. In: Addiction Research. 1, 1993, pp. 130-144.
  13. ↑ JS Han, LZ Wu, CL Cui: Heroin addicts treated with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation of identified frequencies. In: Regulatory Peptides. 54 (1), 1994, pp. 115-116.
  14. ↑ LZ Wu, CL Cui, JS Han: Han's acupoint nerve stimulator (HANS) for the treatment of opiate withdrawal syndrome. In: Chinese Journal of Pain Medicine. 1, 1995, pp. 30-38.
  15. ↑ H. Rampes, S. Pereira, A. Mortimer, S. Manoharam, M. Knowles: Does electroacupuncture reduce craving for alcohol? A randomized control study. In: Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 5, 1997, pp. 19-26.