Pharmaceutical Options for Depression

Many researchers be convinced of the best method to treat despair involves a combination of pharmacy with cognitive behavioral treatment. As such, the preferred drug choice is use of a grade of medication called a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). However, for some individuals the SSRIs are not caring or they may lose their effectiveness over time.

Allow for, researchers are investigating the best options when your antidepressant medication does not drudgery. Should you switch to a different medication from the same division or should you try an antidepressant medication that has a different machinery of action?

The answer to this question is found in a new description scheduled for publication in Biological Psychiatry on April 1st.

Dr. George I. Papakostas and colleagues compared two strategies for treating symptoms of critical depressive disorder that do not respond to treatment with a choosy serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant: either switching to a subordinate SSRI or to a non-SSRI antidepressant.

Some clich SSRI antidepressants are fluoxetine (Prozac), citalopram (Celexa) and sertraline (Zoloft), while examples of a few prevalent non-SSRI antidepressants are venlafaxine (Effexor) and buproprion (Wellbutrin, Zyban). The authors combined 4 studies comparing these two types of treatment strategies and performed a meta-examination on the pooled data.

Papakostas, corresponding founder on this project, explains the results: “Switching from a picky serotonin reuptake inhibitor to a remedy with a different mechanism of action was found to be diet more effective and slightly less-well tolerated than switching to a non-SSRI sedative.”

Looking at the findings from a clinical where one is coming from, the advantage in effectiveness means that 22 depressed people would exigency to be switched to treatment with a non-SSRI for one additional yourself to obtain relief from their symptoms.

John H. Krystal, M.D., Woman of Biological Psychiatry, adds that this consequence “may be related to the fact that while pretty different, the medications evaluated in this story all acted on the monoamine systems of the leader.”

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