By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A new treatment being offered by High Plains Mental Health Center is proving to be life-changing for some people suffering from depression.
High Plains purchased a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation unit, also known as TMS, last year.
The treatment is recommended for major depressive disorder, anxious depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The treatment is approved for youth as young as 15 through adults of any age.
The treatment locally and nationwide is showing significant success in helping patients with treatment-resistant depression, which is people who have tried two or more mental health medications without success.
"By the time someone takes a fourth medication, there's less than a 4% chance of them getting any benefit from it," Dr. Mark Romereim, High Plains medical director, said.
Romereim said about 10% to 15% of the population has depression at any one time. He estimated as many as a quarter of those people have treatment-resistant depression.
With TMS, patients have an 83% chance of improvement and a 62% chance of symptom relief and remission of the illness.
Inhaled ketamine has also been used for treatment-resistant depression but with lower success rates, Romereim said. That treatment has to be repeated once per week on an ongoing basis. Ketamine has a 67% response rate and a 35% remission rate.
"TMS adds the layer of get me in and get treated and come back in a year or not at all," Craig Poe, High Plains executive director, said, "and not experience depression at all, which is life-changing."
High Plains is the first community mental health center in Kansas and one of the few nationwide to offer TMS treatment.
"For us to be the first ... It's important for us to do something because this is an unmet need, and we want to do everything possible to help our people in northwest Kansas and treat depression using the most effective treatments available," Romereim said.
"This is by far the most effective treatment for treatment-resistant depression."
The TMS unit looks much like a dental chair. A device is placed next to the head. It transmits electromagnetic pulses that cause an electrical change in the brain and the creation of new neural pathways, Romereim said.
The treatment usually lasts about 19 minutes. It is an outpatient procedure, and clients can immediately return to normal activities after treatment. No anesthesia is required, and patients can drive themselves to and from appointments.
A course of treatment is usually daily, every weekday for seven weeks, for a total of 36 treatments.
Romereim said patients usually experience few side effects. Some complain of a mild headache, which can be treated with over-the-counter medication or a tapping sensation at the treatment site. He said most of the systems fade during the first week.
The treatment is unavailable for people with ferrous metal in their heads or necks. However, pacemakers are not affected.
NeuroStar, the High Plains' TMS unit manufacturer, has been operating for about 20 years. Romereim said the company's units have treated more than 180,000 people.
High Plains has been treating people with TMS since August. Eighteen people have completed treatment, and five more have ongoing treatment.
"We are seeing consistent results. One person, it didn't help," Romereim said. ... "When it works, it's nothing short of phenomenal."
"To take someone who has been depressed anywhere from 10 to 30 years or their entire adult life, and now they're not," he said.
Romereim said this treatment could mean the difference between being nonfunctional and on disability to being employed and a functional member of the community again.
Some people can take less medication, and some don't have to take medication at all. Romereim said one-third of patients have to repeat the treatment after a year, while about two-thirds have long-lasting benefits and don't have to repeat the treatment.
Medicare and most major private insurance companies cover the treatment.
Medicaid does not cover it in Kansas. Half of U.S. states cover the treatment through Medicaid, which equals an out-of-pocket cost of $8,000.
High Plains and other mental health providers are lobbying the Kansas Legislature to get Kansas to cover the cost of TMS.
"It's hard to talk about things that might actually cure somebody in this type of industry, but it's possible that we would move them to a much better life because of Medicaid reimbursing for this service," Poe said.
Romereim said the treatment can prevent hospitalizations and save lives by preventing suicide.
"You can't put a number on [lives], but you can put a number on hospitalizations," he said. "We are seeing people treated with this who are not going to need to be hospitalized."
Poe said once insurance companies saw the value in reimbursing for the treatment, High Plains was able to invest in the technology.
High Plains invested $150,000 to purchase the TMS unit. Center administrators would like to purchase more units to serve more people. One machine can serve about 50 to 70 people per year.
High Plains covers a wide swath of northwest Kansas, including 20 counties north to the Nebraska border and west to the Colorado border.
"We want to continue to provide the best result we can to the clients who are getting this benefit," Poe said. "Only being able to give 50 to 60 people that benefit a year is something another machine would help us alleviate."
Poe said he would happily accept donations toward that purchase if anyone is interested.
Call High Plains at 785-628-2871 to find the service location closest to you. If you need to speak to someone immediately, call its 24/7 crisis hotline at 1-800-432-0333. You may also call or text 988.
You can also visit High Plains Mental Health Center's website or follow the center on Facebook.