In Russia, patients with recurrent depressive episodes will be able to receive more procedures: the updated care standard now includes electroacupuncture, electrical brain stimulation, and laser blood irradiation. The corresponding order from the Ministry of Health has already been published, but it will only take effect on October 3, according to infohub.kz.
The new document will replace a similar order from 2022 and will apply to adults with recurrent depression — a condition in which the illness returns after periods of improvement.
The list of procedures has been expanded to include ultra-high-frequency current acupuncture, plasmapheresis, blood ultrafiltration, light therapy, and hypoxic exposure. However, this is a list of possible methods: which ones are necessary for a particular person is determined by the doctor.
Patient examinations will also change. They will be tested for hepatitis, HIV, and syphilis, and referred for a urologist examination. In addition, the new standard provides for dispensary observation by a psychiatrist.
Electroconvulsive therapy is also listed in the document. However, this is not new: it, like transcranial magnetic stimulation, was present in the previous standard.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that American scientists found the reason why it is so difficult for people to escape from depressive states.
And the day before, the pharmaceutical company Definium Therapeutics completed another round of trials of an LSD-based drug. The new fast-dissolving tablet showed high results in treating generalized anxiety disorder.