Welcome to the Quality Counts. For those health conscious consumers and medical professionals that are looking to purchase nutritional supplements, vitamins, herbs, learning about medications, losing weight, health food, low carbs, high protein nutrition, and exercise, you have come to the right place. Quality Counts serves both the medical practitioner and consumer interested in nutritional therapy and alternative medicine.

Home > Anti-aging Research > Antidepressants & Psychotropics

Antidepressants & Psychotropics

CME:

• New Options in the Treatment of Depression - U.S. Pharmacist, exp. 11/30/05 - "When compared to fluoxetine, mirtazapine demonstrated significantly greater response rates at weeks 3 and 4. When compared to citalopram and paroxetine, mirtazapine showed significantly greater response in the first one to two weeks but not later. A comparison of mirtazapine and venlafaxine in hospitalized, severely depressed patients showed equal response and remission rates"

News & Research:

• Antidepressants may cause infertility in males - Fox News, 2/6/12 - "SSRIs cause the sperm to be abnormally shaped and unable to swim properly, which is believed to be a direct result of the medication on the sperm itself. These changes in shape and function of sperm, added to the drop in overall sperm count, can push men into the "infertile" range while he is taking the SSRI ... the situation is reversible and corrects itself once the medication is discontinued"
• Depressive symptoms, antidepressant use, and future cognitive health in postmenopausal women: the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study - Int Psychogeriatr. 2012 Feb 3:1-13 - "mild cognitive impairment (MCI) ... Antidepressant use was associated with a 70% increased risk of MCI, after controlling for potential covariates including the degree of depressive symptom severity. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) were both associated with MCI (SSRIs: hazard ratios (HR), 1.78 [95% CI, 1.01-3.13]; TCAs: HR, 1.78 [95% CI, 0.99-3.21]). Depressed users (HR, 2.44 [95% CI, 1.24-4.80]), non-depressed users (HR, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.13-2.85]), and depressed non-users (HR, 1.62 [95% CI, 1.13-2.32]) had increased risk of incident MCI. Similarly, all three groups had increased risk of either MCI or dementia, relative to the control cohort"
• Low Vitamin D: A Contributor to Mental Disorders in Children? - Medscape, 6/2/11 - "Children with severe mental health disorders, including psychosis, have twice the rate of vitamin D insufficiency as mentally healthy children ... 21% of children with severe psychiatric symptoms requiring residential care had serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels lower than 20 ng/mL (the American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP] minimum recommended level) compared with 14% of children who were participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III), a population-based study designed to assess the health and nutritional status of children and adults in the United States" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Dual medications for depression increases costs, side effects with no benefit to patients, study suggests - Science Daily, 5/2/11 - "One group received escitalopram (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or SSRI) and a placebo; the second group received the same SSRI paired with bupropion (a non-tricyclic antidepressant); and a third group took different antidepressants: venlafaxine (a tetracyclic antidepressant) and mirtazapine (a serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) ... After 12 weeks of treatment, remission and response rates were similar across the three groups: 39 percent, 39 percent and 38 percent, respectively, for remission, and about 52 percent in all three groups for response. After seven months of treatment, remission and response rates across the three groups remained similar, but side effects were more frequent in the third group ... Only about 33 percent of depressed patients go into remission in the first 12 weeks of treatment with antidepressant medication" - Note:  Considering that most know that they are getting the real drug because of the side effects, it makes you wonder how much of the 33% are from the placebo effect.
• Antidepressants linked to thicker arteries - Science Daily, 4/2/11 - "The study included 513 middle-aged male twins who both served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War ... A higher level of depressive symptoms was associated with higher IMT only in those taking antidepressants ... One of the strongest and best-studied factors that thickens someone's arteries is age, and that happens at around 10 microns per year ... In our study, users of antidepressants see an average 40 micron increase in IMT, so their carotid arteries are in effect four years older"
• Tricyclic Antidepressants Linked to Increased Cardiovascular Risk - Medscape, 11/30/10
• More than half of depression patients give up their treatment - Science Daily, 11/22/10 - "Most patients who take anti-depressants give up their treatment in less than six months, the minimum period recommended for treating severe depression and other derived pathologies ... only 25% continue their treatment for more than 11 month"
• Combining two types of antidepressants produces stronger effect; mouse study may help patients for whom existing antidepressants are not effective - Science Daily, 11/16/10
• Magnets used to treat patients with severe depression - Science Daily, 10/18/10
• Adding Nutritional Supplement to Antidepressant Therapy May Boost Response in Refractory Depression - Medscape, 8/18/10 - "significantly more SAMe-treated than placebo-treated patients (36.1% vs 17.6%) experienced a clinical response on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), which was the primary study outcome. Remission rates (ie, HAM-D score of ≤7) were also higher with SAMe than with placebo (25.8% vs 11.7%)" - See SAM-e products at iHerb.
• Role of zinc in the development and treatment of mood disorders - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2010 Aug 4 - "Not only has zinc deficiency been shown to induce depression-like and anxiety-like behaviors, supplementation has been used as a treatment for major depression. Zinc administration improves the efficacy of antidepressant drugs in depressed patients and may have a particular role to play in treatment-resistant patients. Recent investigations into the molecular mechanisms responsible for these observations suggest a role for zinc in the regulation of neurotransmitter systems, antioxidant mechanisms, neurotrophic factors, and neuronal precursor cells" - See Jarrow Zinc Balance at iHerb (too much zinc can cause a copper difficiency).
• Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids Supplementation on Depressive Symptoms and on Health-Related Quality of Life in the Treatment of Elderly Women with Depression: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trial - J Am Coll Nutr. 2010 Feb;29(1):55-64 - "Supplementation with n-3 LCPUFA is efficacious in the amelioration of depressive symptoms and quality of life in the treatment of depressed elderly female patients" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb and Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.
• S-Adenosyl Methionine (SAMe) Augmentation of Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors for Antidepressant Nonresponders With Major Depressive Disorder: A Double-Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial - Am J Psychiatry. 2010 Jul 1 - "These preliminary results suggest that SAMe can be an effective, well-tolerated, and safe adjunctive treatment strategy for SRI nonresponders with major depressive disorder and warrant replication" - See SAM-e products at iHerb.
• Is Exercise the Best Drug for Depression - Time Magazine, 6/19/10 - "depressed adults who participated in an aerobic exercise plan improved as much as those treated with sertraline, the drug that was marketed as Zoloft ... Subsequent trials have repeated these results, showing again and again that patients who undergo aerobic exercise regimens see comparable improvement in their depression as those treated with medication, and that both groups do better than patients given only a placebo ... exercise may alter brain chemistry in much the same way that antidepressant drugs do — regulating the key neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine"
• Many Psychotropic Medications May Be Bad for Bones - Medscape, 5/27/10 - "osteoporosis was found to be associated with the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), mood stabilizers other than lithium, and benzodiazepines. Use of tricyclic antidepressants was protective"
• Anti-depressants bring higher risk of developing cataracts - Science Daily, 3/8/10 - "patients taking SSRIs were overall 15 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with cataracts or to have cataract surgery"
• Benefit of antidepressant medications appears to vary with severity of depression symptoms - Science Daily, 1/5/10
• Antidepressants: Best for Severe Depression? - WebMD, 1/5/10
• Analysis Suggests That Antidepressants Provide Little Benefit to Those With Mild Depression - Doctor's Guide, 1/5/10
• Antidepressants Linked to Increased Risk for Death, Stroke in Postmenopausal Women - Medscape, 12/22/09 - "In contrast, compared with women who did not use antidepressants, "those using SSRIs had a 45% increased relative risk of incidence stroke and a 32% increased risk of death in models stratified on propensity and adjusted for multiple covariates," the investigators report. TCA use in turn was associated with a 67% higher relative risk for all-cause death"
• Most antidepressants miss key target of clinical depression, study finds - Science Daily, 12/8/09
• Antidepressant Paxil Also May Affect Personality Traits - WebMD, 12/7/09 - "Paxil reduced neuroticism and increased extraversion, Yang says. Both traits have been linked to the brain’s serotonin system, which is targeted by Paxil and other SSRIs"
• The effect of chronic antipsychotic drug administration on nitric oxide synthase activity and gene expression in rat penile tissues - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2009 Nov 13 - "Antipsychotic drug treatment may be associated with common and problematic sexual dysfunction, especially impotence, which can diminish quality of life and lead to treatment noncompliance. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is an important cellular modulator of erectile function. We have therefore investigated the effect of antipsychotic drug on activity and gene expression of NOS in rat penile tissues. The activity of constitutive NOS was significantly suppressed below control by a 21days administration of 1mg/kg haloperidol, which also significantly decreased expression of endothelial NOS (eNOS) and neural NOS mRNA. Risperidone at 0.5mg/kg also reduced eNOS mRNA expression. Haloperidol or risperidone did not change gene expression and activity of inducible NOS (iNOS). Quetiapine significantly increased activity and mRNA expression of iNOS with 20 and 40mg/kg doses"
• Serotonin-Blocking Antidepressants Linked to Joint Disorders - Medscape, 11/13/09
• Antidepressants Linked to Birth Defect - WebMD, 9/24/09 - "the risk is greatest when moms-to-be take more than one selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant or switch SSRIs early in pregnancy ... babies born to women who had filled prescriptions for more than one SSRI had a fourfold increase in septal heart defects -- a malformation of the wall that divides the left and right sides of the heart"
• What Is The Risk Of Obesity While Taking Antidepressant Drugs? - Science Daily, 6/30/09
• Antidepressant Directly Stimulates Brain Growth Factor Receptors - Science Daily, 6/25/09
• What Is The Risk Of Obesity While Taking Antidepressant Drugs? - Science Daily, 6/23/09
• Combo Drug Is Approved For Resistant Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/09
• Long-Term Use of Antidepressants for Depressive Disorders and the Risk of Diabetes Mellitus - Am J Psychiatry. 2009 Apr 1 - "Compared with no use of antidepressants during the past 2 years, recent long-term use (>24 months) of antidepressants in moderate to high daily doses was associated with an increased risk of diabetes (incidence rate ratio=1.84, 95% CI=1.35-2.52). The magnitude of the risk was similar for long-term use of moderate to high daily doses of tricyclic antidepressants (incidence rate ratio=1.77, 95% CI=1.21-2.59) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (incidence rate ratio=2.06, 95% CI=1.20-3.52)"
• Combating Weight Gain Caused By Antipsychotic Treatments - Science Daily, 3/26/09
• Common Anti-seizure Medications May Increase Risk Of Cardiovascular Problems - Science Daily, 3/18/09
• Analysis Shows Sertraline, Escitalopram More Effective Than 10 Other New-Generation Antidepressants - Doctor's Guide, 1/29/09 - "Sertraline and escitalopram were found to be the best antidepressants overall in terms of efficacy and acceptability. Sertraline was more efficacious than duloxetine (by 30%); than both duloxetine and fluvoxamine (by 27% for both); 25% fluoxetine (by 25%); paroxetine (by 22%); and reboxetine (by 85%) ... Escitalopram was more efficacious than duloxetine (by 33%); fluoxetine (by 32%); fluvoxamine (by 35%); paroxetine (by 30%); and reboxetine (by 95%). As with sertraline and escitalopram, mirtazapine and venlafaxine were also more efficacious than these other drugs ... However, escitalopram and sertraline showed the best profile of acceptability, leading to significantly fewer discontinuations of treatment than did duloxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, reboxetine, and venlafaxine"
• Study: Zoloft and Cipralex Better Than Other Drugs - intelihealth.com, 1/29/09
• Newer Antipsychotic Drugs Increase the Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death - WebMD, 1/14/09 - "because these older agents cause movement disorders in some patients, they have largely been replaced with newer medications such as Zyprexa, Risperdal, and Seroquel ... Although the study's results reaffirmed that people who use the older antipsychotic drugs are twice as likely as nonusers to have sudden cardiac death, it also showed a similar increase in risk for the newer medications. For these, the rate of sudden cardiac death was more than twice that for nonusers"
• Antipsychotic Drugs Double Risk Of Death Among Alzheimer's Patients - Science Daily, 1/8/09 - "New research into the effects of antipsychotic drugs commonly prescribed to Alzheimer’s patients concludes that the medication nearly doubles risk of death over three years"
• St. John's Wort for Depression - Clinical Psychology News, 12/08 - "The best available evidence suggests that St. John's wort is better than placebo for treating major depressive disorder, is as effective as some synthetic antidepressants when used in low to moderate dosing ranges, and has fewer side effects than do synthetic antidepressants"
• Antidepressant Combinations Preferred for Resistant Illness - Clinical Psychology News, 11/08
• St. John's Wort Holds Its Own in Meta-Analysis - Clinical Psychology News, 11/08 - "St. John's wort was more effective than placebo and just as effective as standard antidepressants in treating depression, a Cochrane analysis of 29 studies of almost 5,500 adults with major depression shows" - See Kira® (LI 160 extract) St. John's wort at iHerb.
• Certain Antipsychotic Medications May Increase Risk for Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 10/17/08
• St. John's Wort Relieves Symptoms Of Major Depression, Study Shows - Science Daily, 10/13/08 - "Cochrane Researchers reviewed 29 trials which together included 5,489 patients with symptoms of major depression. All trials employed the commonly used Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression to assess the severity of depression. In trials comparing St. John's wort to other remedies, not only were the plant extracts considered to be equally effective, but fewer patients dropped out of trials due to adverse effects" - See Kira® (LI 160 extract) St. John's wort at iHerb and Perika (WS 5570 extract) at iHerb.
• St. John’s Wort for Major Depression? - WebMD, 10/10/08 - "Can taking an herbal supplement be as good as a prescription medication for people who are severely depressed? ... Researchers in Germany think so" - See Kira® (LI 160 extract) St. John's wort at iHerb and Perika (WS 5570 extract) at iHerb.
• FDA OKs TMS Depression Device - WebMD, 10/8/08 - "TMS is much safer than ECT. Unlike ECT, TMS does not require sedation and is administered on an outpatient basis"
• Taking herb 'helps depression'  - BBC News, 10/8/08 - "Overall, the St John's Wort extracts tested in the trials were superior to placebo, similarly effective as standard anti-depressants, and had fewer side effects ... Doctors think it works because the herb keeps serotonin, a chemical which makes you happy, in the brain for longer" - See Kira® (LI 160 extract) St. John's wort at iHerb and Perika (WS 5570 extract) at iHerb.
• Untapped Potential Of Antidepressants For Cancer - Science Daily, 9/11/08 - "Antidepressants work by affecting levels of chemicals known as prostaglandins. These are ephemeral, infinitesimal signallers self-regulating every cell in the body, including those serving mood and immunity ... Prostaglandins are responsible, paradoxically, for both cell function and dysfunction. Excessive prostaglandin synthesis depresses immune function and may induce cancer ... An ideal anticancer agent would inhibit prostaglandins in such a manner as to shut down the pathogenesis of cancer. The article indicates that antidepressants have such properties"
• Antipsychotics Significantly Decrease Free Thyroid Hormone Concentrations - Doctor's Guide, 9/4/08 - "In patients who receive antipsychotic medication, levels of free thyroxine and free triiodothyronine show significant decreases that may affect thyroid hormone functional activity in some tissues, such as the liver"
• Superior Effectiveness and Tolerability of Escitalopram Over Paroxetine in Long-Term Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder - Doctor's Guide, 9/2/08 - "escitalopram resulted in a significantly greater reduction in the MADRS score from baseline compared with paroxetine, with a mean difference of 2.0 points ... Escitalopram-treated patients showed a greater overall response rate at the end of the study compared with paroxetine-treated participants (83.0% vs 76.8%)"
• St. John's Wort and Duloxetine Equally Effective in Mild to Moderate Depression - Doctor's Guide, 9/1/08 - "Twenty patients received St. John's Wort at a dosage of 900 mg QD, whereas the remaining 20 participants were treated with duloxetine 60  30 mg QD ... In the group of patients suffering from moderate depression, we did not find any statistically significant differences between the 2 treatment groups" - See St. John's wort products at iHerb.
• All Types Of Antipsychotic Drugs Increase The Risk Of Stroke - Science Daily, 8/28/08 - "All drugs used to treat psychosis are linked to an increased risk of stroke, and dementia sufferers are at double the risk"
• Plasma eicosapentaenoic acid is inversely associated with severity of depressive symptomatology in the elderly: data from the Bordeaux sample of the Three-City Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 May;87(5):1156-62 - "Higher plasma EPA was associated with a lower severity of DS in elderly subjects, especially those taking antidepressants" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.
• Seroquel May Help Depression, Anxiety - WebMD, 5/6/08
• Poll: Scientists Use Brain-Boosting Drugs - WebMD, 4/9/08
• Second-Generation Antipsychotics Are No Better Than First-Generation Drugs for Schizophrenia - Doctor's Guide, 3/27/08
• Antidepressants Linked To Type 2 Diabetes, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 3/25/08 - "the risk of diabetes almost doubled for the patients who were using two types of therapies at the same time, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)"
• Treating SSRI-resistant Depression - Science Daily, 3/25/08
• Comparison Of Antipsychotic Treatments In Adolescents With Schizophrenia - Science Daily, 2/28/08 - "The researchers discovered that clozapine was approximately twice as likely to produce a treatment response as olanzapine"
• Antidepressants No Better Than Placebo? - WebMD, 2/27/08
• Anti-depressants 'of little use' - BBC News, 2/26/08 - "the drugs helped only a small group of the most severely depressed, and in most cases had no more effect than taking a dummy pill ... even the positive effects seen on severely depressed patients were relatively small, and open to interpretation"
• Metformin, Lifestyle Changes Effective in Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain - Medscape, 1/10/08 - "Lifestyle intervention plus metformin had the greatest effect on weight loss, and metformin alone was more effective than lifestyle intervention plus placebo in increasing insulin sensitivity and reversing weight gain in these patients with schizophrenia and significant weight gain from atypical antipsychotic agents"
• Trazodone Improves Sleep, but Decreases Abstinence in Recovering Alcoholics - Medscape, 12/7/07
• FDA OKs Abilify for Depression - WebMD, 11/20/07
• Abilify(R) (Aripiprazole) Approved by U.S. FDA for Add-On Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder - Doctor's Guide, 11/20/07 - "taking Abilify plus an ADT provided superior improvement in depressive symptoms to ADT alone at study endpoint (week six), as measured by the reduction of the MADRS Total Scores.3 For the secondary endpoint, Abilify plus an ADT was also superior to placebo plus ADT in reducing the mean SDS Total Score in one study"
• Should Antipsychotic Drugs Be Taken For Dementia? - Science Daily, 7/27/07
• SSRI Use in Older Women Linked to Accelerated Hip Bone Loss - Medscape, 7/6/07 - "Women not taking SSRIs lost bone density at a rate of about 0.5% per year, and the women taking SSRIs lost bone density at a rate of about 0.8% per year"
• Lower Bone Mineral Density Found in Older Men Using SSRIs - Medscape, 7/6/07 - "SSRI use was associated with lower mean BMD at the hip and spine, but there was no significant difference among users of TCAs or trazodone hydrochloride and nonusers"
• Antidepressants May Speed Bone Loss - WebMD, 6/25/07 - "Over an average follow up of five years, the SSRI users were found to have higher rates of hip bone loss than women who took tricyclic antidepressants and those who did not take antidepressants"
• Antipsychotic Drugs Increase Risk Of Death In Older People With Dementia - Science Daily, 6/4/07
• Antidepressant Use May Boost Fracture Risk - Science Daily, 5/29/07 - "people ages 50 and over who regularly took antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) had double the rate of fractures as people not using such medications"
• Newer Class of Antidepressants Similar in Effectiveness, But Side Effects Differ - Doctor's Guide, 1/25/07
• Antidepressants May Increase Fracture Risk - WebMD, 1/22/07 - "Daily use of certain antidepressants doubles the risk of bone fractures in adults 50 and older ... Five SSRIs were used by study participants; besides Prozac and Paxil, they used Celexa, Luvox, and Zoloft"
• Migraine, Depression Drugs Risky Mix - WebMD, 7/19/06
• Depression Drugs May Up Diabetes Risk - WebMD, 6/12/06 - "taking antidepressants was associated with a two- to threefold increase in risk ... The increase was not seen, however, in people at high risk for diabetes who were taking both antidepressants and the blood-sugar-regulating drug glucophage (metformin)"
• Some Anti-Depressants Ease Pain as Well as Opioids, Review Shows - Doctor's Guide, 5/23/06
• Treating Depression Often Requires Trying Different Drugs - Doctor's Guide, 3/23/06
• New Hope for Depression Patients - WebMD, 3/22/06
• Advisory - Newer Antidepressants Linked to Serious Lung Disorder in Newborns - Doctor's Guide, 3/10/06
• Anti-depressant Use Associated With Increased Risk For Heart Patients - Science Daily, 3/5/06
• First Antidepressant Fails 70% of Time - WebMD, 1/4/06
• Suicide Risk Does Not Increase When Adults Start Using Antidepressants, Study Finds - Doctor's Guide, 1/2/06
• Antidepressants May Boost Brain Growth - WebMD, 12/28/05
• Popular Antidepressants Boost Brain Growth, Hopkins Scientists Report - Science Daily, 12/20/05
• Insomnia May Blunt Response to Antidepressants - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/05
• Antidepressant Combos Show Synergistic Benefit - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/05 - "combined mirtazapine and paroxetine (Paxil) achieved superior remission of depression, compared with either agent alone ... mirtazapine increases norepinephrine, and long-term treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as paroxetine can decrease levels of this neurotransmitter"
• All Antidepressants Are Equally Effective - WebMD, 9/19/05
• When It Comes to Sedation, Antiepileptics Not Created Equal - Clinical Psychiatry News, 7/05
• Drug Combination Shows Efficacy in Psychotic Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 7/05
• Atypical Antipsychotics Effective for Behavioral Aspects of Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 6/1/05
• FDA calls for warning on antipsychotic drugs - Mental Health - MSNBC, 4/11/05
• Newer Antidepressants Work 2 Ways - HealthDay, 4/6/05
• Metabolic Risks of Atypicals Dissected - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/05
• Newer Antiepileptics May Increase Risk of Osteoporosis - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/05
• Disturbances of Glucose and Lipid Metabolism With Antipsycotics - Medscape, 3/29/05
• Treating Sexual Dysfunction - Clinical Psychiatry News. 12/04
• Antidepressants May Cause Abnormal Bleeding - WebMD, 11/22/04
• Antidepressants May Affect Bone Growth - WebMD, 11/11/04
• Antipsychotic Drugs Linked To Insulin Resistance In Children - Science Daily, 10/21/04
• Treatments For Depression Have Dental Side Effects - Science Daily, 9/6/04 - "Medications prescribed as treatments for mood disorders can result in dry mouth (xerostomia), an increased rate of dental caries and periodontal (gum) disease"
• Antidepressants May Need 8 Weeks to Take Effect - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/04
• Different Antidepressants, Same Suicide Risk - WebMD, 7/20/04
• Try Augmentation to Beat Fatigue in Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 6/04
• Experts Concerned Over SSRI Use in Pregnancy - WebMD, 6/9/04
• New Generation Atypical Antipsychotics Appear to Stem Violent Behavior - Doctor's Guide, 4/13/04
• Switching Rx May Reduce Hyperprolactinemia - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/04
• Weigh Side Effect Profiles in Prescribing Atypicals - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/04
• FDA Issues Warning on Antidepressants - WebMD, 3/22/04
• Antipsychotic Medications Vary In Effect On Plasma Prolactin Levels - Doctor's Guide, 2/10/04
• Methylphenidate/Citalopram Combination Therapy Appears To Accelerate Treatment Response In Geriatric Major Depressive Disorder - Doctor's Guide, 2/5/04
• Careful Antipsychotic Drug Monitoring Urged - WebMD, 1/27/04
• Caution Urged On Anti-Psychotic Drugs - Intelihealth, 1/27/04
• Riluzole Therapy Effective in Treatment-Resistant Depression - Medscape, 1/16/04
• Effects of antipsychotics on fat deposition and changes in leptin and insulin levels: Magnetic resonance imaging study of previously untreated people with schizophrenia - Br J Psychiatry. 2004 Jan;184(1):58-62 - "Patients first receiving antipsychotic drugs experience substantial deposition of both subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat, reflecting a loss of the normal inhibitory control of leptin on body mass. Along with fat deposition, the increase in levels of fasting lipids and in non-fasting glucose may provide early signs of drug-induced progression towards the metabolic syndrome"
• Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs Linked to Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 11/3/03
• FDA to Require Diabetes Warning On Antipsychotics - Psychiatric News, 10/17/03
• Hyperprolactinaemia May Increase Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Patients Taking Antipsychotic Drugs - Doctor's Guide, 10/16/03
• Side Effects Guide Antipsychotic Drug Choices - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/03
• Occurrence, Identification, Treatment, and Prevention of SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/03
• SSRI May Be Effective Treatment For Children With Major Depression - Psychiatric News, 9/19/03
• Antipsychotic-Induced Metabolic Syndrome Proves Costly - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/03
• Venlafaxine and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Combination May Be Safe, Effective for Treatment-Resistant Depression - Doctor's Guide, 9/5/03
• Coming Soon: Generic Antidepressants - WebMD, 9/3/03
• Should Depressed Patients Take Antidepressants Longer? - Physician's Weekly, 8/25/03 - "depressed women had a smaller hippocampus ... women who remained on a medication for less time experience greater shrinkage of the hippocampus"
• Children Taking Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors At Risk Of Treatment-Emergent Psychiatric Adverse Events - Doctor's Guide, 8/20/03
• Antidepressants Make Brain Cells Grow - WebMD, 8/8/03
• Antidepressants Protect Brain - WebMD, 8/1/03
• Psychiatrists Worry About Atypicals, Diabetes - Clinical Psychiatry News, 8/03
• Managing Weight Gain as a Side Effect of Some Antidepressants - Doctor's Guide, 7/25/03
• Antipsychotic Use Linked to Higher Incidence of Diabetes in the Elderly - Clinical Psychiatry News, 7/03 - "thioridazine had the highest risk ratio, at 4.2, and quetiapine the lowest, at 1.9. Of the atypical antipsychotics, only risperidone had a higher risk ratio (3.7) than haloperidol (3.2)"
• Wait 6-8 Weeks Before Switching Antipsychotics - Clinical Psychiatry News, 7/03
• Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs Effective for Elderly Patients with Dementia - Doctor's Guide, 6/25/03
• Treatment of Acute Agitation with Atypical Antipsychotics - Physician's Weekly, 6/23/03
• Schizophrenia Drugs Linked to Diabetes - WebMD, 6/3/03 - "close to 25% of them developed high blood sugar levels while taking Clozaril, the first of these newer schizophrenia medications -- called "atypical antipsychotics." ... people with schizophrenia have a four- to six-fold risk of diabetes compared with the general population ... One possible explanation: Those with schizophrenia typically have higher levels of cortisol, known as the "stress hormone," because the body releases it during times of agitation. And high cortisol levels can cause problems in the way blood sugar is metabolized" - See my cortisol page for possible ways to reduce it.
• Tricyclics And Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors Equally Effective In Treating Depression In Primary Care Setting - Doctor's Guide, 5/23/03
• Antipsychotics Prescribed More Often for Depression Plus PTSD - Medscape, 5/22/03
• Metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia - J Clin Psychiatry 2003 May;64(5):575-9 - "Metabolic syndrome was found in 37% (N = 13) of the patients, and it was associated inversely with the total daily dose of, but not with any specific type of, antipsychotic drug"
• Venlafaxine Beats Selective Serotonin-Reuptake Inhibitors in Remission of Depression - Doctor's Guide, 5/22/03 - "The results of this largest-of-all comparative study of venlafaxine and other agents supports the conclusions of other investigators that, compared to other SSRIs, venlafaxine helps patients achieve remission of symptoms at relatively higher rates" - Note:  Venlafaxine increases both serotonin and norepinephrine, as does mirtazapine and the investigational drug duloxetine.
• SSRI-Caused Sexual Dysfunction: Patient Education Is Key - Clinical Psychiatry News, 5/03
• Recent Developments in Antipsychotic Use in Adults - Psychiatric Times, 5/03
• Side Effect Profile Of Newer Antipsychotics May Not Be Much Better Than Older Drugs - Doctor's Guide, 5/8/03
• Schizophrenia Drugs: Is Newer Better? - WebMD, 5/8/03
• Antidepressants Raise Bone Fracture Risk - WebMD, 4/28/03
• Antipsychotics Effective for Elderly Patients With Dementia - Psychiatric News, 4/18/03 - "atypical antipsychotics have been used to alleviate deteriorating behavioral symptoms in dementia patients, such as agitation and aggression. New research that she cited shows some atypical antipsychotics can actually improve cognition through activating the release of acetylcholine in the cortex. Clozapine, olanzapine, and risperidone, she reported, robustly increased acetylcholine release in the cortex, while ziprasidone only moderately increased levels, compared with haloperidol and thioridazine, which did not elevate acetylcholine levels at all ... atypical antipsychotics increase cortical dopamine and cholinesterase inhibitors at the very least increase cortical acetylcholine action, leading to an improvement in memory and thinking, as well as improvement in psychosis and behavior"
• New Antidepressants Target Aches and Pains, Too - Psychiatric News, 4/18/03
• Antidepressants Halted Too Soon For Recovery, Studies Show - Psychiatric News, 4/18/03
• Patients' Beliefs Predict Response To Anti-Depressants - Doctor's Guide, 4/8/03
• Antipsychotic Linked Weight Gain Not Counteracted By Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors - Doctor's Guide, 3/24/03
• Risperidone Demonstrates Conventional Antidepressant Characteristic - Doctor's Guide, 3/19/03
• Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors Don't Change Mood and Personality in Healthy Elderly - Doctor's Guide, 3/5/03
• Antipsychotic Use A Risk Factor For Endometrial Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 2/6/03
• Dental Problems From Depression Drugs - WebMD, 2/4/03
• Transdermal Estradiol May Be An Effective Antidepressant - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "The response to transdermal estradiol was “quite rapid,” compared with conventional antidepressants ... Moreover, transdermal estradiol's antidepressant effect remained significant during the 4-week washout period at the end of the 12-week study period"
• Olanzapine/Fluoxetine Combination Effective In Psychotic Depression - Doctor's Guide, 1/20/03
• Antidepressants Tied to Stomach Bleeding - WebMD, 1/17/03
• SSRIs May Increase Risk of Gastrointestinal Bleeding - Medscape, 1/17/03 - "Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, especially when combined with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)" - Examples of SSRIs are Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.
• Some Antipsychotics May Be Tied To Increased Type 2 Diabetes Risk - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "the risk was increased by 3.1 among those on olanzapine (Zyprexa), 7.44 times among those on clozapine, 2.13 among those on high-potency conventional antipsychotics such as haloperidol and fluphenazine, and by 3.46 times among those on low-potency conventional antipsychotics such as chlorpromazine and thioridazine"
• Three Depression Subtypes Respond Selectively - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "Psychotic depression ... In general, the antidepressant needs to be helped along by an adjunctive antipsychotic agent or by ECT ... That constellation of symptoms known as atypical depression seems to preferentially respond to our old friends—the MAO inhibitors"
• Antidepressants Aren't All They're Cracked Up to Be - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "The fact is, the stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria routinely used in pharmacologic antidepressant clinical trials enable investigators to paint an unrealistically rosy picture of the drugs' performance. This renders the trials largely irrelevant to real-world clinical practice"
• Studies Weigh Antidepressants Against Herbs and Placebos - Psychiatric Times, 1/03 - "a meta-analysis of 38 placebo-controlled studies of six antidepressants reviewed by the FDA between 1987 and 1999, found that while patients receiving antidepressants achieved a mean 10-point reduction in HAM-D score, patients on placebo did almost as well, achieving an eight-point reduction ... Kirsch et al. argued that the antidepressants may only be responsible for the two-point increment over placebo, rather than the 10-point therapeutic response, and so their effect could be characterized as clinically negligible. This view was shared in some of the commentaries but countered in others"
• Antidepressants Linked to Premature Birth - WebMD, 12/3/02
• Risk of Diabetes, Heart Disease Rises With Use of Antipsychotics - Clinical Psychiatry News, 11/02
• Younger Women Respond Better to Antidepressants, Possibly Because of Estrogen Levels - Doctor's Guide, 11/5/02
• Antidepressants Increase Cholesterol Levels in Patients with Bipolar Disorder - Doctor's Guide, 11/3/02 - "At the end of the study period, total cholesterol levels were significantly higher than at admission, from 4.9 at treatment onset to 5.2 after treatment"
• Antidepressant Therapy May Improve Outcome in Adolescent School Refusers - Doctor's Guide, 10/28/02
• Fish Oil Eases Depression - WebMD, 10/18/02 - "people who added a daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids to their regular antidepressant treatment had significant improvement in symptoms, including anxiety, sleeping problems, sadness, decreased sexual desire, and suicidal tendencies ... Previous studies have suggested that depressed people have lower-than-normal levels of a fatty acid known as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), which plays an important role in maintaining normal brain function" - See my essential fatty acids page, my omega-3 page or Mega Twin EPA at Vitacost.
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Theory, Clinical Trials and Safety Issues - Psychiatric Times, 10/02 - "Other researchers have hypothesized that chronic deficiencies in dietary EFAs can result in an increased incidence of several diseases, including multiple sclerosis, arthritis, enteritis, immune system dysfunction, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder ... Linoleic acid (LA; 18:2n-6) and α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n-3) are true EFAs. They must be consumed in the diet because humans lack the ability to synthesize them ... Overall, six of the 10 patients assigned to the E-EPA group showed a 50% reduction in HAM-D scores compared to only one of 10 patients in the placebo group. The researchers found that E-EPA had a significant effect on several core depressive symptoms, including feelings of guilt, worthlessness and insomnia" - See my table of omega-3 supplements.
• Augmentation With Atypical Antipsychotics - Psychiatry Times, 10/02
• Antidepressant Treatment Of Depressed Patients After Hospital Discharge Inadequate - Doctor's Guide, 10/14/02
• "Numbers Needed to Treat" Analyses Reveal Which Antidepressants Work Best in the Elderly - Doctor's Guide, 10/10/02
• Mental Health Meds Linked to Weight Gain - WebMD, 9/23/02
• Don't Ditch Your Antidepressants - WebMD, 9/17/02 - "It can take 9 months of treatment -- maybe up to a year -- to help prevent a relapse"
• Clinical Site Variability May Affect Treatment Outcomes In Antidepressant Trials - Doctor's Guide, 9/6/02
• No Increased Risk For Thromboembolism With Use Of Antipsychotics Or Anti-Depressants - Doctor's Guide, 9/2/02
• Remission in Patients With Depressive Symptoms: Venlafaxine and SSRIs Compared - Doctor's Guide, 9/2/02 - "Venlafaxine/venlafaxine XR demonstrated significantly higher remission rates than SSRIs or placebo in patients diagnosed with depression for both = 52 weeks and = 52 weeks"
• Same Antidepressant Will Likely Work Again After Patient Stops Taking It and Relapses - Doctor's Guide, 8/20/02
• Are Antidepressants Effective? - WebMD, 7/10/02
• Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors Relieve Dizziness In Patients With Psychiatric Symptoms - Doctor's Guide, 5/23/02
• Sildenafil Effective for SSRI-Induced Sexual Dysfunction in Men - Doctor's Guide, 5/24/02
• Response to Antidepressent Therapy Appears Age Dependent - Doctor's Guide, 5/15/02
• More Antidepressants, Fewer Suicides? - WebMD, 5/7/02
• CRH Receptor Antagonists May Aid Depression Treatment - Clinical Psychiatry News, 5/02
• SSRIs Provide Antiplatelet Effect in CV Patients - Clinical Psychiatry News, 5/02
• Antidepressant Use Soars In Young People in the United States - Doctor's Guide, 5/6/02
• Which Antidepression Drug Is Best? - WebMD, 4/30/02 - "As initial therapy for depression, most doctors tend to use newer drugs that target a specific brain chemical -- serotonin -- involved in depression. These drugs, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs ... Effexor does this, too, but it isn't quite as specific. It also increases the amount of another chemical -- norepinephrine -- in the brain ... Those who received Effexor were 43% more likely to have their depression go into remission than those taking SSRIs"
• SSRIs Are Associated With Mild Cognitive Impairment - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/02
• Experiments Strengthen Link Between Fish Oil, Mental Problems - Intelihealth, 4/18/02 - "Infant monkeys fed baby formulas supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids - the ones found in "fish oil" - were stronger and more alert even at less than a week old than monkeys given standard baby formula ... Harvard researchers gave two groups of persons who had recently been hospitalized with depression diets that were high in omega-3 and omega-6, respectively. The results were so dramatic that after three months, the scientists were directed by a research oversight committee to stop the experiment and allow all the subjects to take omega-3"
• Research Raises Concern Over Use of Psychotropics Drugs in Very Young Children - Doctor's Guide, 3/28/02
• Antipsychotic Therapy Requires Regular Weight, Diabetes Screens - Clinical Psychiatry News, 3/02
• Women and Psychopharmacology - Medscape, 3/7/02
• Antidepressants Have Various Effects on Social Behaviour - Doctor's Guide, 1/30/02
• Thyroid Hormones Accelerate Depressive Response to Drug Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 10/30/01
• Antidepressant Risk for the Elderly - WebMD, 9/20/01 - "certain types of antidepressants increase the chance of bleeding in the stomach or intestines in the elderly, especially in those over the age of 80 ... We believe that the increased bleeding we saw is clinically significant for these two groups of people taking SSRIs, and that other antidepressant classes, such as the tricyclics"
• Doctors Target Two Brain Chemicals to Treat Depression, Anxiety - WebMD, 9/17/01 - "Prozac works by increasing the availability of the mood chemical serotonin, while Effexor targets serotonin and norepinephrine, another brain chemical that plays a role in anxiety and depression ... there's a whole series of other studies in the area of anxiety disorders and new medications that are in development that target both brain chemicals ... One such drug, Remeron, is currently available"
• New Antidepressant Class May be On Its Way - Doctor's Guide, 8/9/01
• Antidepressant Effexor Good Choice for Older Women - WebMD, 8/7/01
• New Options for Severe Depression - WebMD, 7/23/01
• Caution Urged For Diabetics Using Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors - Doctor's Guide, 7/9/01
• Escitalopram and Citalopram Appear Safe, Effective for Depression - Doctor's Guide, 7/5/01
• High Rate of Sustained Remission With Celexa (Citalopram HBr) Treatment For Depression - Doctor's Guide, 5/10/01
• Antidepressants and Sex: What to Watch For, Common Problem Manageable With Doctor's Help - WebMD, 5/11/01 - "The antidepressants that caused the least sexual dysfunction were Serzone (28%) the slow-release Wellbutrin SR (24%), and the immediate-release Wellbutrin (22%) -- all of which are non-SSRIs"
• Viagra (Sildenafil) Mitigates SSRI-Induced Sexual Dysfunction - Doctor's Guide, 5/9/01
• Remeron SolTab (Mirtazapine) Effective, Safe for Treatment of Depression in Senior Citizens - Doctor's Guide, 5/8/01
• Antidepressants Can Cause Bedroom Blues, Wellbutrin Fixes Antidepressant Sex Problems - WebMD, 4/18/01 - "as many as half of the men and women taking these drugs find that it affects their sex lives"
• Major Depression: Tianeptine At Least Halves Relapse And Recurrence Rates - Doctor's Guide, 3/29/01 - "A smaller proportion of the tianeptine group experienced either relapses or recurrences compared to placebo (16 and 36 percent, respectively) ... events related to treatment were rare and mild in both arms of the study ... The rates of relapse and recurrence decreased between two- and three-fold among tianeptine users compared to placebo. However, the treatments were equally well accepted by the two groups"
• Sertraline And Imipramine Reduce Anxiety In Depressed Patients - Doctor's Guide, 3/15/01
• Study Showing High Relapse Rate Puts Spotlight On Electroshock Therapy - Intelihealth, 3/13/01 - "without follow-up medication, depression returned in 84 percent of patients within six months. Even with the best results - using an anti-depressant and anti-psychotic after ECT - 39 percent of patients relapsed"
• Majority Of Depressed Primary Care Patients Respond To Antidepressants - Doctor's Guide, 3/1/01
• Depression Remission Better With Venlafaxine Than Selective Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors - Doctor's Guide, 3/1/01 - "Remission rates among depressed patients treated with venlafaxine are significantly higher than among patients treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors."
• Mirtazapine Effective And Well-Tolerated Anti-Depressant - Doctor's Guide, 1/8/01
• Antidepressant, Celexa (Citalopram), Produces Less Weight Gain Than Paxil (Paroxetine) - Doctor's Guide, 12/15/00
• Escitalopram, New Generation Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, Promising In Major Depressive Disorder - Doctor's Guide, 12/13/00
• Drug (Celexa) can help compulsive shoppers - CNN, 12/11/00
• New Antipsychotics May Not Be Better Than Traditional Drugs - Doctor's Guide, 12/1/00
• Polyunsaturated Fats and Neurological Disorders - Nutrition Science News, 9/00
• New Antidepressant Also Helps You Sleep - WebMD, 7/25/00
• Do Antidepressants Increase Breast Cancer Risk? - WebMD, 6/16/00
• Old, New Antidepressants About Same - Intelihealth, 5/22/00
• Antidepressant Can Boost Sex Drive - Intelihealth, 5/18/00
• Lower Doses Just As Effective In Treating Schizophrenia - Doctor's Guide, 3/31/00
• Depression Pill Used Vs Hot Flashes - Intelihealth, 3/29/00
• Older Tricyclics More Effective Than Newer Antidepressants In Post-Stroke Depression - Doctor's Guide, 3/2/00
• Effexor More Effective Than Prozac In Achieving Remission In Depression - Doctor's Guide, 2/10/00
• Antidepressants linked to sexual side effects - CNN, 2/7/00
• Tricyclic Antidepressants May Increase Risk Of Heart Attack - Doctor's Guide, 1/12/00
• Experts Publish Review On Pregnancy And Antidepressants - Doctor's Guide, 10/5/99
• Some SSRIs May Impair Vigilance And Long-Term Memory - Doctor's Guide, 9/24/99
• Sexual Dysfunction Less Likely In Depressed Patients Taking Moclobemide - Doctor's Guide, 9/27/99
• Paxil Effective Treatment For Social Anxiety Disorder - Doctor's Guide, 8/6/99
• Zyprexa Reduces Hyperprolactinemia Prevalence In Schizophrenia Patients - Doctor's Guide, 8/2/99
• Newer Antidepressant Drugs As Effective As Older-Generation Treatments - Doctor's Guide, 3/18/01 - "Patients taking the newer antidepressants were more likely to have higher rates of diarrhea, nausea, insomnia and headache. The older drugs were likely to cause adverse effects on the heart and blood pressure and result in dry mouth, constipation, dizziness, blurred vision and tremors"
• Antidepressant-Induced Sexual Dysfunction Associated with Low Serum Free Testosterone
• Antidepressant Can Change Personality Traits In Healthy People - Doctor's Guide, 3/2/98
• Study Compares Two Main Schizophrenia Drugs - Doctor's Guide, 5/21/97

Related Sites:

Recommended Reading:

• Books on depression at Amazon.com

70708