Doctors searching to better understand the development Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) chose to investigate whether a history of electrical injury can lead to the development of ALS--since roughly a quarter of those living with ALS have a history of electrical injury. To examine the long-term consequences of repeated Electrical Injury in electricians, welders and veterans, they chose to look at a completely different population--those with repeated electrical trauma as prescribed by their doctors--namely Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) recipients. Researchers used twenty years of Medicare Data, isolating electroconvulsive therapy recipients and compared them to people who did not receive ECT. They discovered ECT recipients people with a history of more than 10 ECT treatments had a 2.4 greater risk of developing Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Further, if the patient was over the age of 65, the recipient was at three times the risk of developing ALS.

The long-term consequences of electrical injury is typically referred in research to "Delayed electrical injury." It's typically studied in the context of people who have a history of being shocked on the job or in the home, not at the hands of their doctor.

These effects have been recognized by the United Kingdom's government since the National Radiological Protection Board published their 2001 report "ELF Electromagnetic Fields and Neurodegenerative Disease" where in they recommended creating a registry of people with a history of Electroconvulsive therapy to better understand the long-term consequences. The United States Government cited this report in the Congressional Hearing on Gulf War Exposures which included testimony from a Brigadier General diagnosed with ALS. Experts recommended creating a registry for both ECT recipients and TMS recipients to better track the long-term consequences of both psychiatric treatments. Neither country created the registry as recommended. 

ECT recipients are not routinely given comprehensive motor assessments like the "Box and Block" test at the time of ECT even through "General Motor Dysfunction" is a recognized "serious adverse event" in one of the ECT Device user manuals (see page 9 of the Thymatron Instructions for Use Somatics LLC, 2022).

This petition is written in part to ensure every patient routinely has comprehensive motor testing, by someone who later developed progressive upper and lower motor dysfunction.

Psychiatrists typically blame ECT patients for clumsiness, changes in motor function (Reaction time, coordination of muscles, speaking, walking, holding objects, swallowing, etc) or they blame the medication the patient is on--without establishing baseline motor function using structured tests before ECT or conducting comprehensive structured motor functional assessments to identify functional changes). That said, these changes are likely brought about due to a combination of the pulsed electrical injury delivering powerful anti-cholinergic medications on a cellular level, augmenting effects. (Which is why one manufacturer cites the American Psychiatric Association) in stating that having medication in the system when receiving ECT increases the risk of "permanent brain damage." Problem is the nature of "modern ECT" (also known as "Modified ECT") means the patient will always have both anesthesia and a paralytic in their bloodstream, in addition to whatever else may be in the bloodstream--all delivered at a cellular level--augmenting effects. 

Due to the nature of repetitive traumatic brain injury from repeated exposure to pulsed high electric fields, ECT recipients' symptoms will wax an wane with fatigue and a variety of other factors--as is common for people with repetitive brain injuries due to what's referred to as neuro-cognitive fatigue. The neuromuscular symptoms typically improve with rest--indicating a myoneural disorder. As the person ages, more rest will be required to regain baseline function and gradually that function will begin to deteriorate. Depending on how many treatments a person had, they may not experience the progressive problems until 2-10+ years after treatment--typical for all forms of electrical injury.

In general, the episodic paroxysmal neurological sequalae of electrical injury has baffled doctors since humans harnessed the use of electricity and the very first effects of delayed electrical injury were recorded. It's wise to study the long-term consequences of ECT to better understand electrical injury outside clinical settings because frequently domestic or industrial settings cannot calculate exactly how much electricity was used, but ECT's dosing should be documented in the patient chart. Unfortunately doctors untrained in biophysics don't always document the electrical dose properly, omitting one or more of the following: Hertz, Milliamperage, Pulse-Width, Volt, Joules, Percentage of Power used, etc.)

If you or a loved one have a history of ECT and have developed coordination and delayed reaction problems, please ask your doctor for a referral to Physical, Occupational, Speech and Vision Therapy for a comprehensive brain injury assessment for acquired apraxia due to repetitive Traumatic Brain injury. The Diagnostic codes used at referral are

• W86.8XXS (exposure to electric current, sequela) and
• Y84.3 (Shock therapy as the cause of abnormal reaction of the patient, or of later complication, without mention of misadventure at the time of the procedure).

Rehabilitation facility's familiar with electrical injury sequela are hard few (St. John's in Toronto, Canada and CETRI in the US)--but rehabilitation facilities familiar with brain and spinal cord injuries caused by repeated anoxic/hypoxic events, seizures, comas and acquired periodic paralysis (dysregulated electrolytes) are preferred over facilities which focus on joint replacement or healing broken bones. Neurologists who specialize in seizures and anoxic events will be better equipped to properly recognize ECT's resulting movement disorders are a direct consequence of repeated, closely spaced seizures so violent that they cause complete postictal suppression (absence of brain activity) for up to more than six minutes whilst the person's respiratory muscles are paralyzed without mechanical ventilation until the effects of the paralytic wear off and unlabored respiration can resume.