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.

Herbal supplements aren't always safe!

Natural doesn’t always mean safe when it comes to herbal supplements, according to the August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter.

13 Aug 2009

Sleep patterns can identify adolescents at greatest risk for depression

Sleep patterns can help predict which adolescents might be at greatest risk for developing depression, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found in a five-year study.

13 Aug 2009

Labopharm submits response to FDA for formulation of the antidepressant trazodone

Labopharm Inc. (TSX: DDS; NASDAQ: DDSS) today announced that it has submitted its response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) complete response letter regarding the Company's novel formulation of the antidepressant trazodone.

11 Aug 2009

Mental health care costs soar

A new report finds mental health care costs are exploding, according to U.S. News & World Report.

7 Aug 2009

Antidepressant use becoming more common in the United States

A marked and broad expansion in antidepressant treatment occurred among Americans older than 6 years between 1996 and 2005, although treatment rates remain low among racial and ethnic minorities, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

4 Aug 2009

Too many Australians abusing prescription drugs

The demise of yet another pop icon from the use and abuse of pharmaceutical drugs has again put the spotlight on an increasing addiction to prescription medication among the general public.

13 Jul 2009

Antidepressants aid electroconvulsive therapy in treating severe depression

Combining antidepressant drugs with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) does a better job of reducing symptoms of severe depression and causes less memory loss than using ECT alone, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues.

6 Jul 2009

Chantix and Zyban to get boxed warnings on serious mental health events

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that it is requiring manufacturers to put a Boxed Warning on the prescribing information for the smoking cessation drugs Chantix (varenicline) and Zyban (bupropion). The warning will highlight the risk of serious mental health events including changes in behavior, depressed mood, hostility, and suicidal thoughts when taking these drugs.

1 Jul 2009

Major depression, antidepressant medication and the risk of obesity

Cross-sectional studies have reported an association between major depressive episode (MDE) and obesity. The objective of this longitudinal analysis was to determine whether MDE increase the risk of becoming obese over a 10-year period.

23 Jun 2009

Lilly resubmits Cymbalta supplemental NDA for chronic pain to FDA

Eli Lilly and Company has resubmitted its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) for the management of chronic pain to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

3 Jun 2009

FDA antidepressant warnings led to unintended changes in depression diagnosis

Government warnings about suicidality among children taking antidepressants appear to be associated with unintended and persistent changes in the diagnosis and treatment of depression in children and adults, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

1 Jun 2009

Citalopram no more effective than a placebo for children with autism spectrum disorders

Citalopram, a medication commonly prescribed to children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), was no more effective than a placebo at reducing repetitive behaviors, according to researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and other NIH institutes. The study was published in the June 2009 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

1 Jun 2009

Popular antidepressants taken with tamoxifen can increase the risk of breast cancer recurrence

A new study found that taking tamoxifen with certain antidepressants more than doubled the risk of breast cancer recurrence in women taking both medications. The antidepressants inhibit an enzyme, CYP2D6, which helps tamoxifen work effectively.

1 Jun 2009

Treating pain with depression

Pain, the most common reason for adults to visit a primary care physician, and depression, the most frequent mental complaint requiring a doctor's appointment, occur together as often as half the time.

26 May 2009

Comparative effectiveness necessary to weigh new drugs against old ones, opinion piece says

Patients and physicians "need to know not just whether a new drug outperforms a placebo, but whether it's a real advance on what's already on the market," Richard Friedman, a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

20 May 2009

Pregabalin shows potential as treatment for hot flashes

A pill used for nerve pain offers women relief from hot flashes, Mayo Clinic researchers report at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

17 May 2009

Participants in antidepressant drug trials are atypical patients

One reason antidepressant medication treatments do not work as well in real life as they do in clinical studies could be the limited type of study participants selected, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

12 May 2009

New antidepressants might be no more effective than the best existing drugs

The reviews suggest that sertraline - sold under the brand name Zoloft since 1991- could be the best initial choice of antidepressant in people with acute major depression. The generic formulation produced the best balance of effectiveness, tolerability and purchase price, the authors say.

5 May 2009

New target for the treatment of depression

An acid-sensitive protein in the brain may represent a new target for the treatment of depression, according to animal research in the April 29 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

30 Apr 2009

Are we cherry picking participants for studies of antidepressants?

Findings from clinical studies used to gain Food and Drug Administration approval of common antidepressants are not applicable to most patients with depression, according to a report led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

30 Apr 2009