While sleeping, measuring brainwaves can tell if a person with the major depressive disorder should switch antidepressants, revealed study.
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‘While sleeping, measuring brainwaves can tell if a person with major depressive disorder should switch antidepressants.
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- Around 7% of adults suffer from depression/Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).
- 27 million European and 17 million Americans suffer from MDD every year.
- Use of antidepressants, normally Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI's), such as Prozac and Fluoxetine, is the standard treatment for depression.
- Around 50% of sufferers don't respond to initial antidepressant treatment, which means physicians have to change the treatment strategy after four weeks of ineffective treatment.
- Being able to predict the response as early would be a huge benefit to depressed patients.
- A randomized controlled trial on 37 patients with Major Depression was led by Dr. Thorsten Mikoteit, of the University of Basel.
- The participants were treated with antidepressants, 15 categorized as a control group. The other 22 participants' details were given to the psychiatrist in charge of treatment. The brainwaves during REM* sleep were monitored.
- The study's overall aim was to see a 50% reduction in depression symptoms, measured by the standard Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.
- After one week of the start of the treatment, physicians tested the study participants to see if the brainwaves indicated that the antidepressant treatment was likely to work.
- Unsuccessful patients were switched to a different treatment. After 5 weeks, 87.5% of these patients had an improved response, as opposed to just 20% in the control group.
Source-Medindia