Brain Waves Predict Suicide Risk
A new technique might help doctors foresee suicidal thoughts before a patient even has them.
Over the past five years, an increasing number of studies have pointed to the rare but serious risk of suicidal thoughts that can accompany new antidepressant treatments. Close monitoring is currently the only clinical option, but a new technique--one that measures and analyzes electrical activity of the brain--could one day predict which people might be most susceptible to antidepressant-induced suicide.
While uncommon, the gravity of suicide risk was enough to prompt the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to place a "black box" warning on multiple antidepressant labels. So in order to tease out those individuals at highest risk, researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles' Laboratory of Brain, Behavior, and Pharmacology are using an approach called quantitative EEG (QEEG).
I'm not sure that this even will have much clinical utility,
although I remain open to the possibility. From my point of view,
it will
take an awful lot of research to show that any technology is superior
to a) actually
talking to the patient, and b) listening carefully to the responses.
So what they saw, is a transient change in brain activity. This change occurred before any increase in suicidal thinking. In fact, the change went away before the suicidal thinking increased. Even so, the change was large in magnitude, and the correlation was there.
A different article on the same subject provide more detail, which increases my skepticism:
One thing that makes me skeptical about this: the FDA reviewed many studies, involving many thousands of patients, before they were sure that there is a correlation between antidepressant use and suicidal thinking. The relationship is difficult to find statistically, even with large numbers of patients in multiple studies. So how likely is it that a study of 72 persons is going to tell us anything conclusive?
Journal Reference:
A. M. Hunter, A. F. Leuchter, I. A. Cook, M. Abrams. Brain functional changes (QEEG cordance) and worsening suicidal ideation and mood symptoms during antidepressant treatment. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2010; DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2010.01560.x
Focusing on the MRF region, Hunter then examined QEEGs from 72 adult patients who had been randomly assigned to take either medication or placebo for eight weeks. At multiple time points--48 hours, one week, two weeks, four weeks, and eight weeks after starting their therapy--the patients returned for QEEG measurements and a mood-assessment questionnaire.
When Hunter examined the results, she found a striking effect: Those patients on antidepressants who indicated any increase in suicidal thoughts also showed a drastic decrease in activity in their MRF region just 48 hours after starting their meds--six times the decrease shown in subjects with no change in suicidal thoughts. But after one week, the two groups were nearly identical again.
So what they saw, is a transient change in brain activity. This change occurred before any increase in suicidal thinking. In fact, the change went away before the suicidal thinking increased. Even so, the change was large in magnitude, and the correlation was there.
A different article on the same subject provide more detail, which increases my skepticism:
Simple Test Can Detect Signs of Suicidal Thoughts in People Taking Antidepressants
...Of the 37 participants on medication, five (13.5 percent) had worsening thoughts of suicide...Of note, eight of the 35 participants taking a placebo (22.9 percent) also had increased thoughts of suicide. However, the placebo participants did not show the precipitous drop in brain activity within the first 48 hours...
One thing that makes me skeptical about this: the FDA reviewed many studies, involving many thousands of patients, before they were sure that there is a correlation between antidepressant use and suicidal thinking. The relationship is difficult to find statistically, even with large numbers of patients in multiple studies. So how likely is it that a study of 72 persons is going to tell us anything conclusive?
Journal Reference:
A. M. Hunter, A. F. Leuchter, I. A. Cook, M. Abrams. Brain functional changes (QEEG cordance) and worsening suicidal ideation and mood symptoms during antidepressant treatment. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2010; DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2010.01560.x
Comments
Mmm...I wrote about my concerns with the qEEG / antidepressant approach previously...
Posted by: Neuroskeptic | May 1, 2010 4:40 AM
A severely depressed person is flat, numb, and has little insight. As the medication works then the person can actually talk about his or her feelings about depression and suicide. As a psychologist it is always a big break thru when a previously disengaged person can finally talk about their issues. The increased suicidal thoughts are a positive sign not a negative sign. But so many people are freaked out about suicidal statements they assume it is a bad thing. The quiet disengaged people kill themselves, if I can get them talking and keep them talking then life goes on.
Posted by: drHoward | June 13, 2010 2:14 AM