When you think of Denmark and helmets, you probably think of people with names like Ragnar or Beowulf plundering their way around northern Europe.

But scientists in Copenhagen have put their heads together and built a helmet they believe is a new and effective way to combat depression.

Principle architect Professor Steen Dissing of Copenhagen’s Faculty of Health Sciences has said the helmet emits electromagnetic pulses that target malfunctioning blood cells in the brain.

In clinical trials held in Copenhagen and Hillerod in North Zealand, Denmark, two thirds of the 65 clinically-depressed test patients reported their symptoms had disappeared and improvements in mood were noticeable within a week.

Of the subjects tested, 34 received half an hour of treatment per day while 31 received an hour of treatment, split into two sessions.

The procedure, known as Transcranial Pulsating Electromagnetic Fields (T-PEMF), affects brain capillaries which form new blood vessels and secrete growth hormones.

And the process is painful apart from a small, temporary feeling of nausea.

‘The helmet is amazing,’ Annemette Ovlison, a 16-year depression-sufferer, told the BBC.

‘It was like somebody hit the reset button.’

Nice hat: Depressed subjects reported improvements in mood less than a week after treatment.

Depression affects nearly one in five adults, according to the Office for National Statistics, many of whom do not respond to counselling or medication.

Written By Harry Readhead/ News Retrieved From:

http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/06/danish-scientists-find-new-way-to-fight-depression-and-its-a-helmet-4719205/