4 ms·

It might not be "dangerous" but depending on where the current is applied and for how long, people have passed out and had seizures.

caycep 12y ago
you could euphemistically call that "electroconvulsive therapy". people bill medicare for that, you know...
ridgeguy 12y ago
Citation for this, please? I've read there have been no instances of seizure or loss of consciousness from TCDCS when practiced in line with the field's standards for current density, equipment safety, etc. For example, here's a clip of a safety study from The Journal of Pain: (314) Safety of the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): evaluation of 815 tDCS sessions in 100 chronic- pain patients H Knotkova, A Nafissi, Z Leuschner, D Das, I Dhokal, and R Cruciani; Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY There is a growing body of evidence that tDCS can alleviate pain in patients with various pain syndromes, suggesting clinical potential of tDCS in pain man- agement. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate safety and tolerability of tDCS in patients who underwent tDCS treatment at the Institute for Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, between November 2008 and Sep- tember 2010. TDCS was delivered with Phoressor II 850 PM in five 20-min ses- sions on 5 consecutive days, at 2 mA, applying either anodal (excitatory) tDCS over the motor cortex or cathodal (inhibitory) tDCS over the somatosen- sory cortex, using 2 saline-soaked electrodes of 36cm2. One hundred patients with various chronic pain syndromes received 815 tDCS sessions (639 anodal and 176 cathodal) delivered as 172 five-day treatment blocks (131 anodal, 35 cathodal; 80 patients received only anodal treatment blocks, 14 patients only cathodal blocks, 6 received both). Neither anodal nor cathodal tDCS resulted in any serious adverse events (AEs). The most frequently reported non-serious AEs were: transient Tingling/Burning/Itching under the electrode during the stimulation in 27 (4.2%) of anodal and 14 (7.9%) of cathodal sessions; transient Headache after the stimulation: 16 (2.5%) anodal, 2 (1.1%) cathodal); Fatigue: 7 (1.1%) anodal, 0 cathodal; Nausea: 4 (0.6%) anodal, 1 (0.6%) cathodal; Dis- comfort: 3 (0.5%) anodal, 1 (0.6%) cathodal; Dizziness: 1 (0.2%) anodal, 4 (2.3%) cathodal; Insomnia: in 3 (0.5%) of anodal and 1 (0.6%) of cathodal ses- sions. The adherence to the tDCS treatment was very good: patients completed 92% (111 of 121) of anodal five-day treatment blocks and 100% (35 of 35) of cathodal blocks, indicating high acceptability of tDCS procedure. In conclusion, the findings contribute to the evidence on tDCS safety, supporting clinical potential of tDCS in chronic pain management.
- Multics 12y ago
  Correct. He's scaremongering.

caycep 12y ago

you could euphemistically call that "electroconvulsive therapy". people bill medicare for that, you know...

ridgeguy 12y ago

Citation for this, please? I've read there have been no instances of seizure or loss of consciousness from TCDCS when practiced in line with the field's standards for current density, equipment safety, etc. For example, here's a clip of a safety study from The Journal of Pain: (314) Safety of the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): evaluation of 815 tDCS sessions in 100 chronic- pain patients H Knotkova, A Nafissi, Z Leuschner, D Das, I Dhokal, and R Cruciani; Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY There is a growing body of evidence that tDCS can alleviate pain in patients with various pain syndromes, suggesting clinical potential of tDCS in pain man- agement. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate safety and tolerability of tDCS in patients who underwent tDCS treatment at the Institute for Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, between November 2008 and Sep- tember 2010. TDCS was delivered with Phoressor II 850 PM in five 20-min ses- sions on 5 consecutive days, at 2 mA, applying either anodal (excitatory) tDCS over the motor cortex or cathodal (inhibitory) tDCS over the somatosen- sory cortex, using 2 saline-soaked electrodes of 36cm2. One hundred patients with various chronic pain syndromes received 815 tDCS sessions (639 anodal and 176 cathodal) delivered as 172 five-day treatment blocks (131 anodal, 35 cathodal; 80 patients received only anodal treatment blocks, 14 patients only cathodal blocks, 6 received both). Neither anodal nor cathodal tDCS resulted in any serious adverse events (AEs). The most frequently reported non-serious AEs were: transient Tingling/Burning/Itching under the electrode during the stimulation in 27 (4.2%) of anodal and 14 (7.9%) of cathodal sessions; transient Headache after the stimulation: 16 (2.5%) anodal, 2 (1.1%) cathodal); Fatigue: 7 (1.1%) anodal, 0 cathodal; Nausea: 4 (0.6%) anodal, 1 (0.6%) cathodal; Dis- comfort: 3 (0.5%) anodal, 1 (0.6%) cathodal; Dizziness: 1 (0.2%) anodal, 4 (2.3%) cathodal; Insomnia: in 3 (0.5%) of anodal and 1 (0.6%) of cathodal ses- sions. The adherence to the tDCS treatment was very good: patients completed 92% (111 of 121) of anodal five-day treatment blocks and 100% (35 of 35) of cathodal blocks, indicating high acceptability of tDCS procedure. In conclusion, the findings contribute to the evidence on tDCS safety, supporting clinical potential of tDCS in chronic pain management.

Multics 12y ago
Correct. He's scaremongering.