Antidepressant News and Research

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Antidepressants are medicines that treat depression. Your doctor can prescribe them for you. They can improve your mood, sleep, appetite and concentration. It may take several weeks for them to help. There are several types of antidepressants. You and your doctor may have to try several before finding what works best for you.

Antidepressant drug could save people from deadly sepsis, research suggests

An antidepressant drug used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder could save people from deadly sepsis, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests.

14 Feb 2019

NHS doctors are over-prescribing pills, not therapy, for older people with depression

A systematic review of 27 studies has shown that GPs are too readily prescribing antidepressants to older individuals who are struggling with depression.

12 Feb 2019

Researchers report promising advance in the search for new class of antidepressants

In experiments with mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine report a promising advance in the search for a new class of drugs to treat major depression.

8 Feb 2019

Study shows no difference between relief offered by topical pain creams and placebos

In an effort to reduce chronic pain, many people look for hope by paying $20 to thousands of dollars for a tube of prescription topical pain cream or gel.

6 Feb 2019

Salk researchers pin down why some patients don't respond to common antidepressants

The most commonly prescribed antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, lift the fog of depression for many people. But for around a third of people with major depressive disorder, SSRIs don't make much of a difference.

1 Feb 2019

Complex interplay of two growth factors key to fast-acting antidepressant actions

A study by researchers at Yale University reveals a complex interplay of two different growth factors in the rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects of ketamine.

31 Jan 2019

Patients taking anti-depressants more likely to develop gastrointestinal bleeding

Patients taking anti-depressant medications classified as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are 40 percent more likely to develop severe gastrointestinal bleeding, particularly when they also use common over-the-counter pain relievers, according to a research review in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.

31 Jan 2019

Reassuring findings on the link between antidepressants and fertility

Based on limited research, there's no strong evidence that selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - the most widely used class of antidepressants - have an adverse impact on fertility, according to a paper in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry.

25 Jan 2019

Overprescribing of antidepressants may occur more often in elderly patients

In a Pharmacology Research & Perspectives study of individuals living in Olmsted County, Minnesota from 2005–2012, potential overprescribing of antidepressant medications occurred in nearly one-quarter of elderly residents.

24 Jan 2019

Benzodiazepines may improve survival in congestive heart failure

A study published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics indicates that treatment of anxiety with benzodiazepines may improve survival in congestive heart failure.

23 Jan 2019

Changes in hippocampal structural connectivity differentiate responders of electroconvulsive therapy

A new study in people with major depression reports that electroconvulsive therapy induces changes in the fibers connecting the hippocampus to brain regions involved in mood and emotion.

16 Jan 2019

Meth’s resurgence spotlights lack of meds to combat the addiction

In 2016, news reports warned the public of an opioid epidemic gripping the nation. But Madeline Vaughn, then a lead clinical intake coordinator at the Houston-based addiction treatment organization Council on Recovery, sensed something different was going on with the patients she checked in from the street.

14 Jan 2019

Sexual abuse and bullying related to smoking dependence and binge eating

People who ever suffered bullying or sexual abuse have a lower quality of life similar to those living with chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, depression or severe anxiety, a new study from the University of Adelaide has found.

11 Jan 2019

Therapists should regularly assess depression symptoms and augment treatment for insufficient responders

Adolescents with depression who were treated with interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-A) had significantly better outcomes when their therapists regularly assessed depression symptoms and augmented treatment for insufficient responders after four weeks of therapy rather than waiting until Week 8, reports a study published in the January 2019 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

8 Jan 2019

Experts analyze data that can guide antidepressant discontinuation

There has been a lot of attention to problems patients face in discontinuing antidepressant drugs. However, there appear to be few indications, particularly in guidelines and reviews.

13 Dec 2018

International investigators fight against the negative campaign on benzodiazepines

In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomaticsthere is news about an international group of investigators who felt that benzodiazepines are getting unwarranted bad press, compared to other psychotropic drugs.

9 Dec 2018

Common antidepressant does not promote recovery after stroke, study finds

Stroke patients prescribed a common antidepressant show no improvement compared with those given a dummy drug, a study has found.

6 Dec 2018

$Alternative drug linked with comparable risk of falls, major fractures as atypical antipsychotics in older dementia patients$

Alternative drug linked with comparable risk of falls, major fractures as atypical antipsychotics in older dementia patients

As physicians attempt to decrease antipsychotic use in seniors with dementia, they need to be aware that trazadone, frequently used as an alternative, is associated with a similar risk of falls and major fractures as atypical antipsychotics, according to new research in CMAJ.

26 Nov 2018

Antidepressant use increased after Brexit vote

A new study has shown that use of antidepressants have risen in England after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. There has also been a sharp fall in prescription of other medications, the study notes.

22 Nov 2018

Pharmacogenetic tests don't provide much information for prescribing antidepressants or antipsychotics

Pharmacogenetic tests are marketed as an aid to psychiatrists in selecting the antidepressant or antipsychotic medication that will work best in individual patients, based on their genetic makeup.

21 Nov 2018