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Trial procedure aims to help patients with treatment-resistant depression

A six-patient clinical trial is testing a cutting-edge procedure that uses ultrasound beams directed into the brain to alter a pathway known to be at least partly responsible for psychiatric conditions such as depression.

Sky Zazlov agreed to take part in a trial where MRI-guided focused ultrasound is used to send more than 1,000 beams through the skull to a tiny target in each hemisphere of the brain.  (Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

By Sheryl UbelackerThe Canadian Press

Tues., May 1, 2018

For the last seven years, Sky Zazlov has been fighting the demon of major depressive disorder — and none of the numerous medications, myriad types of therapy or other interventions she has tried have been able to lift the black cloud of despair that has enveloped her life.
“It affects hygiene, sleep, diet, emotions,” Zazlov, 40, said of the severe treatment-resistant depression she developed in 2011.
“It affects everything, how I interact with my family, whether I’m able to keep friendships, whether or not I can get out of bed and wash my hair and brush my teeth,” said the mother of a 12-year-old boy, who is no longer able to work as a 911 dispatcher in Toronto.
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“You feel numb sometimes and empty a lot of the time. There’s not a lot of interest in doing anything or seeing anybody or talking to anyone.”