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.

First reliable method to predict whether SSRIs work on depressed patients

Loyola University Medical Center researchers are reporting what could become the first reliable method to predict whether an antidepressant will work on a depressed patient.

16 Dec 2011

Euthymics presents EB-1020 preclinical data on ADHD at ACNP annual meeting

Euthymics Bioscience, Inc. today announced that it has presented preclinical data demonstrating that EB-1020, a next-generation product candidate for adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may be effective for treating ADHD without the burden of drug abuse liability.

8 Dec 2011

Personalized action plans to combat depression

A new book co-authored by the director of the University of Louisville Depression Center recognizes that depression is different for everyone and provides techniques and strategies for each person to develop a personalized action plan to combat depression.

7 Dec 2011

Study looks at effects of antipsychotic drugs on two brain receptors linked to schizophrenia

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, have identified the pattern of cell signaling induced by antipsychotic drugs in a complex composed of two brain receptors linked to schizophrenia.

24 Nov 2011

Naltrexone for problem gamblers

According to new practice guidelines Australian doctors treating gambling addicts now can consider prescribing an anti-heroin drug, naltrexone, to help problem gamblers control their impulses. Australia has one of the world’s highest rates of problem gamblers, with about 2.1 per cent of Australians experiencing some form of gambling problem.

22 Nov 2011

New way to enhance effects of anandamide in the body

UC Irvine and Italian researchers have discovered a new means of enhancing the effects of anandamide - a natural, marijuana-like chemical in the body that provides pain relief.

22 Nov 2011

Switching or adding antidepressants does not exacerbate side effects

Patients with major depression who fail to see improvement after taking an antidepressant often have their initial medication switched or combined with a second drug. Many clinicians weigh the possibility of adverse side effects when deciding between strategies. New research in the latest issue of General Hospital Psychiatry now suggests one strategy may not be any more likely to be harmful than the other.

19 Nov 2011

Psychiatric medication use soaring among women: Report

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD commonly affects boys more than girls. However a new report shows that among adults, the numbers have changed with women’s use of ADHD medications risen over the past decade surpassing that of men.

17 Nov 2011

New research identifies brain chemicals and circuits involved in mental illnesses

New research identifies the brain chemicals and circuits involved in mental illnesses like schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety, giving potential new directions to their treatment.

16 Nov 2011

Combination of antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs may increase risk of CV mortality

People taking anti-psychotic drugs and anti-depressant drugs have a much higher risk of dying during an acute coronary event of a fatal arrhythmia than the rest of the population, finds a Finnish study published in the European Heart Journal.

16 Nov 2011

Higher protein load in critical brain regions linked to severe depression in late life

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the elderly, but little is known about the underlying biology of its development in older adults.

8 Nov 2011

Top-line results from AstraZeneca and Targacept's TC-5214 Phase 3 studies on MDD

AstraZeneca and Targacept, Inc. today announced top-line results from the first of four RENAISSANCE Phase 3 studies investigating the efficacy and tolerability of TC-5214 as an adjunct therapy to an antidepressant in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who do not respond adequately to initial antidepressant treatment.

8 Nov 2011

Tibotec to present results of TMC435 phase 2b study on HCV at AASLD 2011

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals (Tibotec), one of the Janssen (Janssen) Pharmaceutical Companies, today will present results of the final analysis of PILLAR, a phase 2b study of the investigational hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A protease inhibitor TMC435 in treatment-naïve patients with chronic genotype 1 HCV, as part of a late-breaker oral presentation at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Francisco, CA, USA.

7 Nov 2011

Rexahn announces results from Serdaxin Phase IIb trial on major depressive disorder

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company commercializing potential best in class oncology and CNS therapeutics, today announced results from its Phase IIb clinical trial of Serdaxin in major depressive disorder.

5 Nov 2011

Scientists discover neurons responsible for light-induced arousal response

Bright light arouses us. Bright light makes it easier to stay awake. Very bright light not only arouses us but is known to have antidepressant effects. Conversely, dark rooms can make us sleepy. It's the reason some people use masks to make sure light doesn't wake them while they sleep.

4 Nov 2011

Escitalopram reduces pain severity, interference in opioid-dependent patients

In what is believed to be the first study of its kind to demonstrate an association between the antidepressant escitalopram and improved general pain, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), have found that opioid-dependent patients treated with escitalopram experienced meaningful reductions in pain severity and pain interference during the first three months of therapy.

4 Nov 2011

HHWC medical doctors provide insight into depression

A staggering 230 million antidepressant prescriptions are filled each year. Yet the face of depression does not always fit the mold: a successful career, loving spouse, wonderful children, seemingly good health and finances. From the outside life appears perfect, so why are Americans depressed?

15 Oct 2011

FDA approves NDA for Edgemont's Fluoxetine 60 mg tablet

Edgemont Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a neuroscience focused company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its New Drug Application (NDA) for Fluoxetine Tablets 60 mg.

12 Oct 2011

New data on long-term use of antidepressant drugs

There is increasing awareness that, in some cases, long-term use of antidepressant drugs (AD) may enhance the biochemical vulnerability to depression and worsen its long-term outcome and symptomatic expression, decreasing both its likelihood of subsequent response to pharmacological treatment and the duration of symptom-free periods. A review of literature suggesting potential side effects during long treatment with antidepressant drugs was performed.

3 Oct 2011

Novel binding assay can simplify search for potential SERT inhibitors

Many psychiatric conditions are caused by aberrant metabolism of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Researchers in the Department of Pharmacy at LMU have now developed a new screening method, which will facilitate the search for new drugs that modulate the biological activity of serotonin.

1 Oct 2011