Sutter Health is bringing a new, faster treatment for serious depression to the Sacramento region, the first local health system to introduce the SAINT electromagnetic treatment developed at Stanford University.
SAINT, short for Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy, uses magnets to gently stimulate a small part of the brain linked to depression. It is meant for adults whose depression has not improved after trying at least two antidepressant medicines.
“This is a way for us to take advantage of the way your brain is wired,” said Dr. Hammad Khan, the director of interventional psychiatry at Sacramento’s Sutter Center for Psychiatry. “It helps us start to turn the lights back on. We’re creating connectivity. We’re creating energy connections between different parts of the brain where we’re able to get you functioning again.”
A second local health system, UC Davis Health, will start offering the treatment early next year, said Dr. Debra Kahn, the director of the UCDH Advanced Psychiatric Therapeutics Clinic at 3301 C St. in the East Sacramento neighborhood…