In the largest ‘real world’ trial ever conducted, a $35 million US government study has concluded that antidepressants cure (or fail to cure) the symptoms of major depression in half of all sufferers, even when individuals are receiving the best possible care. The drugs used in the study, including Celexa, Wellbutrin, Zoloft and Effexor, work in very different ways yet had roughly equal effectiveness when it came to treating depression.
Breaking with the FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management advisory committee, which voted last month to require ‘black box’ labelling on ADHD drugs such as Ritalin, the organisation’s pediatric advisory committee has recommended that ADHD drugs should not have to carry the government’s strongest warning about potential cardiovascular and psychiatric risks.
Following elderly individuals with depression for periods of up to two years, a University of Pittsburgh trial found that individuals were less likely to have recurrent depression if they received two years of maintenance therapy with the anti-depressant paroxetine. So-called ‘maintenance psychotherapy’ offered once a month for 45 minutes did not prevent recurrent depression.
One in three teens will experience an abusive relationship, but many cases go unreported. And abusive relationships may not always be recognized by teens for what they are, some experts say.
Following successful clinical trials at the University of Bonn on transcranial magnetic stimulation as a treatment for depression, Yale University researchers are now recruiting schizophrenic patients nationally for a clinical trial involving the use of TMS as a treatment for auditory hallucinations.
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