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.

Measuring heart rate changes to detect depression risk

For the first time doctors have shown that measuring changes in 24-hour heart rate can reliably indicate whether or not someone is depressed.

11 Sep 2020

Study shows possibility to predict who would benefit from exercise and behavioral therapy

Aerobic exercise clearly benefits young adults with major depression, and a Rutgers-led study suggests it may be possible to predict those who would benefit from behavioral therapy with exercise.

24 Aug 2020

Antidepressants are not designed for dementia, shows study

Nearly three-quarters of older adults with dementia have filled prescriptions for medicines that act on their brain and nervous system, but aren't designed for dementia, a new study shows.

19 Aug 2020

Investigators identify three trajectories of antidepressant dispensing during pregnancy

In an analysis of women who started pregnancy when taking antidepressant medications, investigators identified three trajectories of antidepressant dispensing during pregnancy.

5 Aug 2020

Botox injections can reduce depression, shows study

Botox, a medication derived from a bacterial toxin, is commonly injected to ease wrinkles, migraines, muscle spasms, excessive sweating and incontinence.

30 Jul 2020

Fluoxetine does not improve brain recovery after acute stroke

The antidepressant fluoxetine has been suggested as a means to improve brain recovery after acute stroke.

22 Jul 2020

Investigational antidepressant PT150 shows antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2

In a recent bioRxiv study, an ad hoc multi-institutional research team from the US shows that a novel hormone receptor modulator PT150 has unique and possibly additive antiviral and immunomodulatory effects – highlighting its potential role in the treatment and prophylaxis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

14 Jul 2020

Study identifies three novel broad-spectrum SARS-CoV-2 cell entry inhibitors

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Cornell University in the U.S. just described several new inhibitors of human coronavirus spike proteins by screening a library of approved drugs with SARS-S and MERS-S pseudotyped particle entry assays. Their exciting findings are currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

13 Jul 2020

McLean Hospital study compares the costs and benefits of esketamine

A paper authored by researchers from McLean Hospital has determined that esketamine, a nasal spray to treat severe depression, is currently too expensive for widespread use.

13 Jul 2020

Antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) suppresses replication of SARS-CoV-2

A study conducted by researchers at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg has shown that the antidepressant agent fluoxetine may be an effective drug for the early treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among at-risk groups.

16 Jun 2020

New $26.9 million project aims to create better psychiatric drugs without side effects

Rapidly acting drugs to treat depression, anxiety, or substance abuse without side effects do not exist. Researchers led by Bryan L. Roth, MD, PhD, the Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the UNC School of Medicine, are trying to change that.

16 Jun 2020

Fish oil may be an effective treatment for depression, study shows

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry shows that patient-derived adult stem cells can be used to model major depressive disorder and test how a patient may respond to medication.

11 Jun 2020

Antipsychotic drug clozapine can trigger severe obsessive-compulsive symptoms

A review published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics analyzes the obsessions and compulsions associated with the use of clozapine, an antipsychotic drug,

11 Jun 2020

Opioid, sedative and antidepressant use prior to surgery leads to more complications

A study led by University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center researchers showed that patients who already used opioids, sedatives or antidepressants prior to colorectal surgery experience significantly more complications post-surgery.

8 Jun 2020

For seniors, COVID-19 sets off a pandemic of despair

As states relax coronavirus restrictions, older adults are advised, in most cases, to keep sheltering in place. But for some, the burden of isolation and uncertainty is becoming hard to bear.

28 May 2020

Researchers launch clinical trial to test the efficacy of antidepressant against COVID-19

An antidepressant medication is being tested as a potential treatment for COVID-19 after University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers determined it may prevent dangerous overreactions by the immune system.

13 May 2020

Use of antidepressants during pregnancy does not increase child's risk for autism

A mother's use of antidepressants during pregnancy does not appear to increase her child's risk for autism, according to a new meta-analysis by Jeffrey Newport, M.D., published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

7 May 2020

New study may facilitate personalized therapy for depression, other neurological disorders

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, striking as many as one in four women and one in eight men in their lifetime.

5 May 2020

Natural mood regulation is impaired in people with depression, research shows

Periods of lockdown during the COVID-19 situation likely to exacerbate problems with mood regulation, say experts at the University of Oxford.

22 Apr 2020

Nasal spray containing esketamine could provide an effective treatment for depression

Depression and long-term stress have been demonstrated to cause changes in the brain which offer a partial explanation for depressive moods, apathy, memory difficulties and other symptoms commonly associated with depression.