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.

Hormonal treatment associated with depression in men with prostate cancer

Men who receive anti-hormonal treatment after having their prostate removed are 80% more likely to suffer from depression than men who don't receive this treatment. This leads researchers to suggest that patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy should be monitored for post-surgical depression.

18 Mar 2019

Columbia researchers explore molecular mechanisms of treatment-resistant depression

Major depressive disorder is a debilitating illness that affects more than 350 million people around the world.

14 Mar 2019

Integrated therapy is effective in treating obesity and depression

An intervention combining behavioral weight loss treatment and problem-solving therapy with as-needed antidepressant medication for participants with co-occurring obesity and depression improved weight loss and depressive symptoms compared with routine physician care, according to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

6 Mar 2019

Researchers discover facile method for introduction of fluorine atoms into organic molecules

The vast majority of pharmaceuticals employed in the treatment of human diseases are of an organic nature, meaning that the active component is a molecule (or a combination of several molecules) that is constituted of carbon and hydrogen atoms.

6 Mar 2019

Some drug combinations may be more effective than others for schizophrenic patients

Patients with schizophrenia are often treated with more than one type of psychiatric medication, but a new study suggests that some combinations may be more effective than others.

21 Feb 2019

Brain imaging indicates potential success of drug therapy in depressive patients

Working with international partners, a MedUni Vienna research group has shown that imaging techniques carried out prior to treatment indicate the potential success of drug therapy in depressive patients.

19 Feb 2019

Activating gene that helps excite neurons reverses depression in male mice

Directly activating a gene important to exciting our excitatory neurons and associated with major depression may help turn around classic symptoms like social isolation and loss of interest, at least for males, scientists report.

18 Feb 2019

Depression prevention for pregnant women and new mothers – new recommendations

At present all new mothers are screened for symptoms of depression and help is provided to those who need care. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now has urged doctors to screen pregnant women for risks of depression and provide adequate counselling and support to prevent the onset of depression after delivery. The report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week.

14 Feb 2019

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