Zoloft News and Research

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Zoloft is a drug used to treat depression. It is a type of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Also called sertraline.

New study to look at impact of common antidepressants on pregnant women

Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women's Hospital and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry is home to a landmark study that will, for the first time, take a close look at the impact of certain common antidepressants on pregnant women.

13 Sep 2016

SSRI treatment improves cognitive and social functioning in young children with fragile X

Treatment with sertraline may provide nominal but important improvements in cognition and social participation in very young children with fragile X syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability and the leading single-gene cause of autism, a study by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found.

26 Aug 2016

UNC researchers map anxiety circuit in the brain that may explain side effects of antidepressants

More than 100 million people worldwide take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Prozac and Zoloft, to treat depression, anxiety and related conditions, but these drugs have a common and mysterious side effect: they can worsen anxiety in the first few weeks of use, which leads many patients to stop treatment.

25 Aug 2016

Study examines whether pregnant woman can take antidepressants during pregnancy

Should a pregnant woman stop taking antidepressants during her pregnancy? The Journal of the American Medical Association has published a study showing the risk of autism doubles (from 1% to 2%) for children of women who use antidepressants, like Zoloft and Prozac. Max Wiznitzer, MD, pediatric neurologist at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, stresses, even if the study proves correct, the vast majority of babies exposed to antidepressants in the second and third trimesters will not develop autism.

17 Dec 2015

Blueberries may be effective in treatment for PTSD

Up to 8 percent of people in the U.S. suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the result of witnessing or being the victim of a traumatic event. People with PTSD have been in a situation in which they were at risk of death, serious injury or sexual violence or have seen first-hand loved ones faces such threats. They may experience flashbacks, emotional detachment and jumpiness, among other symptoms that affect their ability to function in everyday life.

30 Mar 2015

Anticholinergic medications associated with pneumonia risk in older people

Taking commonly used medications with anticholinergic effects is associated with a significantly higher risk for developing pneumonia in a study of more than 3,000 older Group Health patients living in the community--not in nursing homes.

3 Mar 2015

Different antidepressants may affect pregnant women differently

About 15 percent of women in the United States suffer from anxiety disorders and depression during their pregnancies, and many are prescribed antidepressants. However little is known about how early exposure to these medications might affect their offspring as they mature into adults.

23 Dec 2014

Laughing gas could be used as treatment for severe depression

Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, has shown early promise as a potential treatment for severe depression in patients whose symptoms don't respond to standard therapies. The pilot study, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is believed to be the first research in which patients with depression were given laughing gas.

10 Dec 2014

Scratching itchy skin causes the brain to release serotonin, intensifies itchy feeling

Turns out your mom was right: Scratching an itch only makes it worse. New research from scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that scratching causes the brain to release serotonin, which intensifies the itch sensation.

31 Oct 2014

People who take antidepressants are twice as likely to have dental implants fail

A team from McGill University has discovered that people who take the most common antidepressants (such as Celexa, Paxil, Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft, the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRIs) are twice as likely to have dental implants fail as those who are not taking SSRIs.

12 Sep 2014

Allowing PTSD patients to choose their own treatment is less expensive, shows study

A cost-analysis of post-traumatic stress disorder treatments shows that letting patients choose their course of treatment - either psychotherapy or medication - is less expensive than assigning a treatment and provides a higher quality of life for patients.

29 May 2014

Longer looks: Exercise to treat depression; crowdsourcing treatment decisions; nitroglycerin shortage

Depression is the most common mental illness-;affecting a staggering 25 percent of Americans-;but a growing body of research suggests that one of its best cures is cheap and ubiquitous.

28 Mar 2014

New treatments for depression on the horizon

New insights into the physiological causes of depression are leading to treatments beyond common antidepressants such as Prozac and Zoloft, researchers are reporting in the in the journal Current Psychiatry.

15 Feb 2014

Portage acquires approximately 54% equity in Biohaven

Portage Biotech Inc., is pleased to announce that it has acquired approximately 54% equity in Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Limited, a private corporation formed under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, for $3.5 million, payable as $1.75 million upfront and the balance in three installments over the next eleven months.

6 Jan 2014

TAU researchers discover gene that may predict human responses to specific antidepressants

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants, but they don't work for everyone. What's more, patients must often try several different SSRI medications, each with a different set of side effects, before finding one that is effective.

9 Dec 2013

State highlights: Nation's older population strains budgets in Northeast; Detroit may replace health coverage with stipends; access to care in rural Alaska

Most of the nation's oldest population is now clustered in the Northeast and growing rapidly, according to Census data, straining medical, housing and transportation budgets and forcing lawmakers to look for new approaches. And legislators and governors are reaching the conclusion that the way to pay for the elderly is to cater to the young (Wilson, 9/12).

13 Sep 2013

State highlights: Texas abortion clinics prepare to shutter; wide disparity in hospital prices; Calif. bill to expand abortion providers passes

A selection of health policy news from Texas, California, North Carolina, Missouri, Oregon and Colorado.

6 Sep 2013

Metabolomics tools predict who can benefit from treatment with certain antidepressants

Duke Medicine researchers have identified biochemical changes in people taking antidepressants - but only in those whose depression improves. These changes occur in a neurotransmitter pathway that is connected to the pineal gland, the part of the endocrine system that controls the sleep cycle, suggesting an added link between sleep, depression and treatment outcomes.

19 Jul 2013

Post-stroke depression increases risk of suicide and mortality

Antidepressant medications known as SSRIs, such as fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), and escitalopram (Lexapro), are effective when given to stroke patients as a preventive measure, the physicians write in the journal Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation.

26 Apr 2013

Study challenges role of serotonin in depression, opens possibilities for new therapies

A new study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine suggests that depression results from a disturbance in the ability of brain cells to communicate with each other.

19 Mar 2013