HIRUDOTHERAPY OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEADACHE AND DEPRESSION
We studied the effectiveness of hirudotherapy (10 sessions) in patients with chronic vertebral-basilar insufficiency. The dynamics of chronic headache and depression rates before and after the hirudotherapy course were assessed. After a hirudotherapy course in self-evaluation, a significant number of patients 22 of 29 (p < 0.05, χ2) noted the disappearance of previously troubling chronic headaches, which amounted to 75.9 % improvement. In assessing the severity of depressive experiences prior to treatment in general, in the group of 29 patients, the mean score for the Beck scale was 14.25 ± 1.49, after treatment 8.63 ± 0.95 (p < 0.01). In the group of patients with a baseline depression level greater than 18 points (n = 10), after the hirudotherapy course, there was a demonstrative decrease in the indices by 55.6 % (before treatment – 23.51 ± 0.77, after treatment – 10.44 ± 0.90 (p < 0.001)). In individual assessment, depression rates decreased in 23 of 29 patients (p < 0.05, χ2). Therefore, after a course of hirudotherapy in patients with chronic vertebral-basilar insufficiency was significant reduction number of patients complaining of chronic headaches. For the first time identified a distinct antidepressive effect of this treatment method.