This explanation sounds a little suspect and I can't vouch for the veracity of the claim. I did a search in PubMed to see if any recent studies have been performed using CES. Apparently they recently tested this device for generalized anxiety disorder with some promising results. 
Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) is a treatment for brain disorders I have not heard of, but apparently it has been in use for quite some time. Cranial electrotherapy stimulation is also known as electrosleep therapy, cranial-electro stimulation, neuroelectric therapy and transcranial electrotherapy. The basic idea behind cranial electrotherapy stimulation is that you attach clips to your earlobes and run a 80 to 600 microAmperes current through them. Apparently this can alter brain functioning and may improve conditions associated with specific brain disorders such as depression and anxiety. Currently it appears that it is only FDA approved to treat insomnia, depression and anxiety. These two PDF files (here and here) discuss the evidence that shows this actually does something. Another article about this treatment can be found at Brain Blogger. I'm still somewhat skeptical of this treatment. It seems to be marketed as something of a snake oil to cure all your ills. Some companies in the past have made some dubious claims about CES being able to improve IQ and other such nonsense. I'm not sure if many of the studies had an adequate sham control either.
How does this device actually work? That's difficult to say and I am not too impressed by any of the explanations given. It appears to have a more general stimulating effect on the brain and may alter various neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. Here's the dubious claim made by one of those PDF files about this treatment.The microcurrent, delivered in a unique waveform, moves electrons through the brain at a variety of frequencies, collectively known as harmonic resonance. This normalizes the electrical activity of the brain as measuredby an electroencephalogram (EEG).
Cranial electrotherapy stimulation was associated with a significant decrease in HAM-A scores (t = 3.083, p = .01). At endpoint, 6 patients (50% of the intent-to treat sample and 67% of completers) had a 50% decrease in HAM-A score and a CGI-I score of 1 or 2.
They have also done a study to reduce pain in patients with spinal cord injury.Additionally, the active CES group reported significantly decreased pain interference (-14.6 pre- vs postintervention, p = 0.004) in contrast to the nonsignificant decrease in the sham CES group (-4.7 pre- vs postintervention, p = 0.24).
They have also used this to treat symptoms associated with fibromyalgia.Treated patients showed a 28% improvement in tender point scores, and a 27% improvement in self-rated scores of general pain level. The number of subjects rating their quality of sleep as poor dropped from 60% at the beginning of the study to 5%. In addition, there were significant gains in the self-rated feelings of well-being and quality of life, plus gains in six stress-related psychological test measures.
This website shows you how to build your own device. There's even a blog covering this technology that appears to be infrequently updated and a forum discussion. So it appears that this device does something. As to what it actually does may be still somewhat of a mystery. Cranial electrotherapy stimulation appears to have some beneficial effects. I'm somewhat surprised its not actually used that much for brain disorders, but perhaps its more like a glorified placebo as opposed to a truly beneficial treatment.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation
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6 comments:
That is fascinating to me. I just had ECT for the first time in May and July so I am quite interested in learning about a world I new nothing about. Very interesting.
You may be interested in a research monograph by Ray Smith, Ph.D that was published this year and is is available at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Cranial-Electrotherapy-Stimulation-First-Monograph/dp/160247589X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218139640&sr=8-1
I'm very familiar with CES, and have been using it in my psychological practice for several years, with good results. Let me clear a few things up.
You're right to say that we really don't know how the thing works. One study did demonstrate that CES increases alpha waves in the brain--I don't know about "harmonic resonance" but at least it did that. However, for the most part, the research studies focus on outcome, not on the process of how it works, and these demonstrate that it is indeed effective for a variety of indications, including anxiety, depression, insomnia, and pain.
Well over 100 human research studies have been completed. Several have been very well designed double blinded studies, and far from being a placebo, CES appears to be uniquely low in placebo effect--in fact, on several measures, CES actually has a NEGATIVE placebo effect, in that the group receiving sham treatment gets slightly worse. A review of research in depression showed that the best antidepressant does about 32% better than placebo, while CES does a whopping 62% better than placebo--not because it's wildly more effective than antidepressants at fighting depression, but because antidepressants have a huge placebo effect to overcome.
As to increasing IQ--there is one such study, and it's truly a fine example of bad research design. They used the WAIS-R, used twice within three weeks, with no blinding at all; and the WAIS-R has a considerable practice effect. So those findings are garbage. However, in the same study, there was an intriguing finding--massive gains were seen in IQ, and were maintained for 18 months (at which point the practice effects should have washed out; generally, we consider the WAIS to be ok to readminister after a year). Intriguing, but highly inconclusive given the lack of blinding; maybe the researchers were overenthusiastic and providing subtle cues to the patients, upping the scores.
On the other hand, it may have had some signficant effect in that group by reducing anxiety. The patients were drawn from an anxiety disorders clinic, and all had complaints of poor memory and concentration, which would have lowered their initial scores. So part of the effect could have come from treating their anxiety.
It's still badly designed research, in desperate need of confirmation. But raising IQ is definitely NOT the primary indication for CES; that's the FDA-approved interventions for anxiety, depression, insomnia, and pain.
Incidentally, the websites of the manufacturers (Alpha-Stim and CES Ultra) are monitored by the FDA, so no "snake oil" claims can be made on those websites, at least.
I'm not famiiliar with the device pictured--who makes that one? Is it still available?
Thanks that was an informative comment "anonymous".
I have been using a CES for about 20 years. i started when i was abt 8 years old. It was very new back then and no one had heard about it. I needed it because my hypothalmus wasn't producing enough serotonin. so the connection between my right and left brain wasn't strong. therefore i was struggling in school. i knew the information seperatly but i couldn't put it together. My mother said it use to take me hours to do my homework. After using my CES machine i could do my homework in a half in hour. I have used the machine off and on for years now. everytime i feel like i'm struggling in school I pull it out and use it for a month and my grades improve.
I don't have depression, anxiety, insomia or pain, so I don't use it for those.
In response to anonymous, the device pictured is manufactured by FisherWallace. I just purchased it over the Internet, hopefully it will help with my insomnia.
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