A new treatment may bring brighter days for those who suffer from severe depression. Nearly 18 million Americans suffer from depression. This is more than just a bad case of the blues. It's a condition that can affect quality of life and lead to loss of jobs, loss of friends and family and even suicide.
Today there are a number of medications that are quite effective at treating depression.
But about a million people don't respond to standard treatments. Doctors at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and other medical centers are testing a new treatment that may give these people hope. The technique is called vagus nerve stimulation. It's often used to treat epilepsy, but in a recent study, doctors found that it also can treat depression. The vagus nerve carries information to the parts of the brain that control mood.