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 just as effective as antipsychotic in treating dementia

Research in Canada has revealed that when it comes to treating the aggressive behaviour seen in people with Alzheimer's disease, antidepressants work just as well as a commonly prescribed antipsychotic medication but without the severe side-effects.

11 Sep 2007

Oncologists critical in managing psychiatric disorders in patients with advanced cancer

Mental illness and emotional distress in patients with advanced cancer are often overlooked by oncologists but, if screened for, can be adequately managed to improve a patient's quality of life.

11 Sep 2007

Antidepressant citalopram shows promise in treating symptoms of dementia

Researchers have found surprising evidence that an antidepressant (citalopram) may perform as well as a commonly-prescribed antipsychotic (risperidone) in the alleviation of severe agitation and psychotic symptoms of dementia.

11 Sep 2007

Primary care depression treatment often does not follow quality guidelines

Most patients with depression who are treated by primary care physicians do not receive care consistent with quality standards, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

5 Sep 2007

Patients with depression may not recover their heart rate variability following heart attack

Patients with depression appear to have an impaired ability to recover their heart rate variability following acute coronary syndromes such as heart attack, a factor that could increase their risk of coronary death, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Sep 2007

Urgent need for better understanding of bipolar disease in children and adolescents

The number of visits to a doctor's office that resulted in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents has increased by 40 times over the last decade, reported researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

4 Sep 2007

Relapse from antidepressant medication may be lack of response to medication in the first place

A new study by Rhode Island Hospital researchers indicates that a relapse during antidepressant continuation treatment may be due to a relapse in patients who were not true drug responders.

17 Aug 2007

FDA warns against use of red yeast rice products promoted as high cholesterol treatment

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to buy or eat three red yeast rice products promoted and sold on Web sites.

12 Aug 2007

Cerebral blood flow provides clues to treating depression

The usefulness of established molecular imaging/nuclear medicine approaches in identifying the hows and whys of brain dysfunction and its potential in providing immediately useful information in treating depression are emphasized in a study in the August Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

9 Aug 2007

Gene variation makes people with depression more likely to respond to the medication citalopram

A variation in a gene called GRIK4 appears to make people with depression more likely to respond to the medication citalopram (Celexa) than are people without the variation, a study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, has found.

3 Aug 2007

Faster-acting antidepressant medications

A new study has revealed more about how the medication ketamine, when used experimentally for depression, relieves symptoms of the disorder in hours instead of the weeks or months it takes for current antidepressants to work.

25 Jul 2007

Double depression

There's depression, and then there's double depression.

24 Jul 2007

Study challenges NICE guidelines that recommend SSRIs be prescribed only in conjunction with psychological therapies

Should adolescents with depression be prescribed antidepressants, and if so, should they be given only with a psychological therapy, as advocated by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)"

20 Jul 2007

Researchers identify gene-regulating protein in the brain that triggers ability to cope with

Researchers have identified a gene-regulating protein in the brains of mice that triggers the animals' ability to cope with the "behavioral despair" caused by inescapable stress.

19 Jul 2007

Depression in Parkinson's disease under diagnosed

While depression appears to be common in early Parkinson's disease (PD), it is often not treated or diagnosed, according to newly released research.

10 Jul 2007

Antidepressants lower the risk of suicide attempt in adults with depression

All age groups of depressed patients who received selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors -- the most commonly prescribed antidepressant medication -- showed a significantly lower risk of suicide attempt when compared to those who did not receive antidepressant treatment.

9 Jul 2007

Researchers discover brain pathway of depression in rats

Scientists' hunt for the cause of depression has implicated so many suspects and found so many treatments with different mechanisms that the condition remains an enigma.

9 Jul 2007

Antidepressant warnings linked to decreased prescription rates among children

Regulatory warnings regarding the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors appear to be associated with reductions in the number of antidepressant medication prescriptions among children and adolescents covered by Tennessee's expanded Medicaid program, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

4 Jul 2007

Antidepressants not linked to birth defects

Two research studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine found taking SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), anti-depression drugs, during pregnancy did not significantly increase the overall risk for most birth defects.

4 Jul 2007

Exercise good for those brain cells

According to Swedish researchers exercise may stimulate the production of new brain cells in the area of the brain that is important to memory and learning.

2 Jul 2007

Antidepressant News and Research

Further Reading

Antidepressant just as effective as antipsychotic in treating dementia

Oncologists critical in managing psychiatric disorders in patients with advanced cancer

Antidepressant citalopram shows promise in treating symptoms of dementia

Primary care depression treatment often does not follow quality guidelines

Patients with depression may not recover their heart rate variability following heart attack

Urgent need for better understanding of bipolar disease in children and adolescents

Relapse from antidepressant medication may be lack of response to medication in the first place

FDA warns against use of red yeast rice products promoted as high cholesterol treatment

Cerebral blood flow provides clues to treating depression

Gene variation makes people with depression more likely to respond to the medication citalopram

Faster-acting antidepressant medications

Double depression

Study challenges NICE guidelines that recommend SSRIs be prescribed only in conjunction with psychological therapies

Researchers identify gene-regulating protein in the brain that triggers ability to cope with

Depression in Parkinson's disease under diagnosed

Antidepressants lower the risk of suicide attempt in adults with depression

Researchers discover brain pathway of depression in rats

Antidepressant warnings linked to decreased prescription rates among children

Antidepressants not linked to birth defects

Exercise good for those brain cells

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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