Antidepressants Do Actually Work in Adults

Antidepressants were found to be more effective than placebo in treating acute depression in older adults.

Antidepressants are more effective than placebo for the short-term treatment of acute depression in adults, revealed new study published in the journal Lancet. The study involved a comparison of more than 20 commonly used antidepressants.

It found all of them to be more effective than placebo for the short-term treatment of acute depression in adults, with effectiveness ranging from small to moderate for different drugs.

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‘In adults, antidepressants were found to be more effective than placebo in treating acute depression.’

"Our findings are relevant for adults experiencing a first or second episode of depression -- the typical population seen in general practice," said lead author Andrea Cipriani from University of Oxford in Britain.

An estimated 350 million have depression worldwide.

The findings of the new study are based on more than 500 trials done between 1979 and 2016 comparing 21 commonly used antidepressants.

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Depression occurs due to alterations in the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain.

A total of 8,7052 participants had been randomly assigned to receive a drug, and 2,9425 to receive placebo. The majority of patients had moderate-to-severe depression.

All 21 antidepressants were more effective than placebo, the study said.

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A quick, simple and anonymous self-assessment health tool to assess the level of depression using the famous Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale.

"Antidepressants can be an effective tool to treat major depression, but this does not necessarily mean that antidepressants should always be the first line of treatment. Medication should always be considered alongside other options, such as psychological therapies, where these are available," Cipriani said.

Source-IANS

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