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.

Anxiety, depression and insomnia drugs and risk of driving accident: an interview with Hui-Ju Tsai

Anxiety, depression and insomnia drugs have been commonly used to treat mental and emotional disorders, or improve sleep-related problems.

27 Sep 2012

Suicide attempts common in bipolar disorder inpatients

Results from a Norwegian study show that the prevalence of attempted suicide is high among inpatients with bipolar disorder, with nearly half of patients having attempted to take their own lives at least once.

25 Sep 2012

Don’t take psychoactive drugs and drive

Taking benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and Z-drugs significantly increases the risk for a motor vehicle accident, report Taiwanese researchers.

21 Sep 2012

Loyola study to evaluate whether transcranial magnetic stimulation can help people with tinnitus

Loyola University Medical Center is studying whether a new form of non-invasive magnetic therapy can help people who suffer debilitating tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

19 Sep 2012

Drugs to treat anxiety, depression and insomnia may increase risk of driving accident

Drugs prescribed to treat anxiety, depression and insomnia may increase patients’ risk of being involved in motor vehicle accidents, according to a recent study, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Based on the findings, the researchers suggested doctors should consider advising patients not to drive while taking these drugs.

13 Sep 2012

Infliximab may offer new hope for people with difficult-to-treat depression

Researchers at Emory University have found that a medication that inhibits inflammation may offer new hope for people with difficult-to-treat depression. The study was published Sept. 3 in the online version of Archives of General Psychiatry.

4 Sep 2012

Chronic nerve pain: an interview with Professor Sally Lawson

Chronic nerve pain results from pathological changes within a nerve that appear to be self-sustaining and thus the pain continues for a long time.

30 Aug 2012

Inappropriate prescriptions for the elderly prevalent in primary care

One in five prescriptions in primary care for the elderly is inappropriate, say the authors of a systematic review.

23 Aug 2012

New evidence reveals possibility of mood-enhancing effects associated with some flavors

New evidence reveals the possibility of mood-enhancing effects associated with some flavors, stemming at least in part from natural ingredients bearing a striking chemical similarity to valproic acid, a widely used prescription mood-stabilizing drug, scientists reported here today. This effect joins those previously reported for chocolate, teas and some other known comfort foods.

20 Aug 2012

Prenatal antipsychotic exposure linked to reduced neuromotor performance

Infants with prenatal exposure to antipsychotics show significant reductions in neuromotor performance compared with other children, US researchers report.

17 Aug 2012

Study uncovers new pathway that can treat depression

Depression takes a substantial toll on brain health. Brain imaging and post-mortem studies provide evidence that the wealth of connections in the brain are reduced in individuals with depression, with the result of impaired functional connections between key brain centers involved in mood regulation. Glial cells are one of the cell types that appear to be particularly reduced when analyzing post-mortem brain tissue from people who had depression.

16 Aug 2012

Scientists discover why major depression or chronic stress can cause loss of brain mass

Major depression or chronic stress can cause the loss of brain volume, a condition that contributes to both emotional and cognitive impairment. Now a team of researchers led by Yale scientists has discovered one reason why this occurs - a single genetic switch that triggers loss of brain connections in humans and depression in animal models.

13 Aug 2012

Prenatal antipsychotic exposure linked to reduced neuromotor performance

Infants with prenatal exposure to antipsychotics show significant reductions in neuromotor performance compared with other children, US researchers report.

8 Aug 2012

A third of depression patients convert to bipolar disorder

Around a third of patients initially diagnosed with major depressive disorder have their diagnosis changed to bipolar disorder, Polish researchers report.

8 Aug 2012

Scientists discover biological marker that may help identify patients’ response to antidepressants

Scientists have discovered a biological marker that may help to identify which depressed patients will respond to an experimental, rapid-acting antidepressant. The brain signal, detectable by noninvasive imaging, also holds clues to the agent's underlying mechanism, which are vital for drug development, say National Institutes of Health researchers.

7 Aug 2012

Creatine may fight major depression in women

Women battling stubborn major depression may have a surprising new ally in their fight—the muscle-building dietary supplement creatine.

7 Aug 2012

Exercise reduces symptoms of depression in patients with chronic heart failure

Patients with chronic heart failure who participated in exercise training had modest reductions in symptoms of depression after 12 months, compared with usual care, according to a study in the August 1 issue of JAMA.

1 Aug 2012

Training nurse-pharmacist teams to track discrepancies between patients medications at home and in hospital may reduce conflicts

A study of more than 500 patients admitted to, and discharged from, a big-city medical center suggests that nurse-pharmacist teams trained to track down discrepancies between lists of drugs patients are taking at home and those they are scheduled to take in the hospital might substantially reduce such potentially harmful conflicts.

1 Aug 2012

ZOLOFT holds promise against cryptococcal meningitis

New research conducted by biologists at Texas A&M University suggests that ZOLOFT, one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants in the world, also packs a potential preventative bonus - potent mechanisms capable of inhibiting deadly fungal infections.

26 Jul 2012

Diabetic women more likely to report low overall sexual satisfaction

Women with diabetes are just as likely to be interested in, and engage in, sexual activity as non-diabetic women, but they are much more likely to report low overall sexual satisfaction, according to a UCSF study.

26 Jul 2012