- NeuroElectric Therapy
NeuroElectric Therapy (NET) is a form of Cranial Electro-Stimulation (CES) that uses low-current electrical impulses across the head to relieve the symptoms of acute and chronic withdrawal from drugs.
In the late 1970s, a Scottish surgeon, Dr. Meg Patterson (MBE, MBChB, FRCS Edinburgh), reported that by applying small, precisely structured electrical waveforms to chemically dependent people, she could stimulate the human body to rapidly accelerate its rate of detoxification. Research during the 1980s in the UK and USSR demonstrated NET's ability to modulate the dopaminergic and seratonergic systems.
Clinical results published in 1984 showed that by coupling NeuroElectric Therapy with approximately two weeks of a residential rehabilitation program, participants exhibited a dropout rate of less than 2% and experienced long-term drug abstinence rates of approximately 80%, based upon a follow-up study that determined the sampled participants’ abstinence status anywhere from 1 - 8 years after their initial treatment (n=186).
BBC Scotland aired a 30-minute documentary (Final Fix) on Scottish NET pilots and WKYT aired two TV segments on Kentucky (USA) NET pilots in 2007.
NET devices received regulatory approval in the EU, and NET research by the Centre for Drugs Misuse Research (University of Glasgow) received ethics approval in 2008.
External links
* [http://www.unodc.org/unodc/bulletin/bulletin_1976-01-01_4_page006.html Effects of neuro-electric therapy (N.E.T.) in drug addiction: interim report] , Margaret A. Patterson
* [http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/9340886.html 15 People Graduate Controversial Drug Detox Program] , WYMT-TV, 23-Aug-07
* [http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1292808.0.0.php NET gain in battle against addiction] , The Herald, 28-Mar-07
* [http://blog.wired.com/biotech/2007/03/neuroelectric_t.html Neuroelectric Therapy: Addiction cure or quakery?] , Wired.com, 20-Mar-07
* [http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/have-scientists-finally-discovered-the-answer-to-addiction-440193.html Have scientists finally discovered the answer to addiction?] , The Independent, 17-Mar-07
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