VOA慢速英语--强大的磁体可以减轻抑郁症

Powerful Magnets Can Relieve Depression

Depression is more than just feeling sad. It is a serious disease. Depression can interfere¹ with normal life and a person’s sense of self-worth. It can end in suicide.

Some people are helped with traditional treatments, such as medicine or talking with mental health experts. Yet these treatments are not 100 percent effective. Luckily, there are other methods people can try.

One such treatment involves bursts of electromagnetic energy. It sends magnetic pulses directly to the brain.

Sonya Kibbee is from Columbia, Missouri. She works as a physical therapist. Kibbee says she is normally active, but because of severe depression last year, she had trouble making simple decisions.

“Just dumb little decisions that we make that we don’t even think about, I have to think about. And then it just gets me more stressed out because every little decision is hard.”

People suffering from depression often seem to lack energy or interest in the things around them. Depression affects how much a person eats and can interfere with sleep.

Even with medication and talking with mental health professionals, Kibbee said, she thought about suicide. Doctors ordered hospital stays for her several times.

Then she heard about TMS, short for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation². TMS does not involve doctors operating on the patient. And the treatment usually does not require anesthesia.

TMS uses a wire to send powerful magnetic pulses to the brain. During the treatment, patients feel gentle, repeated beats on their head. The treatment can cause minor³ pain inside the head. So before her treatments, Kibbee took pain medicine, which reduced the sensation. After one week, she said she noticed a real difference.

“I just felt so much better.”

After more than 30 treatments, her signs of depression almost disappeared.

Doctor Muaid Ithman directs the TMS program at University of Missouri Health Care. He says the treatment can help patients when other methods do not.

“Basically, 50 (or) 60 percent of people who suffer from treatment resistant⁴ depression will see a clinically meaningful response to TMS. And one third of these people will go into remission, which means that their symptoms will completely will go away.”

The United States National Institute of Mental Health has reported on two large studies on the safety of TMS. It said they found that most side effects, such as head pain, were minor to moderate. However, the treatment is relatively⁵ new. The institute added that long-term side effects are unknown, and more studies are needed.

As for Kibbee, she returned to work and some of her favorite activities.

I'm Caty Weaver⁶.

Words in This Story

pulse – n. a beating noise; the beat resulting from such a sound

stressed – adj. feeling very worried

clinically – adv. relating to or based on work done with real patients; of or relating to the medical treatment that is given to patients in hospitals or medical centers

anesthesia – n. a loss of sensation; something that produces a loss of sensation

response – n. something that is done or happens as a reaction to something else

symptom – n. a change in the body or mind which indicates that a disease is present

1 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

2 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

3 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

4 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。