Posted by linkadge on May 27, 2007, at 19:30:04
In reply to I'm confused., posted by Denise190466 on May 27, 2007, at 15:09:29
>I also get confused by what seems to me like >conflicting findings. For instance one study >says that P11 proteing helps depression in rats >by increasing localisation of 5HT1B receptors at >the cell surface and then another study says >that drugs like prozac exert their affects by >decreasing 5HT2B receptors?????
Well, the 5-ht1b and 5-ht2b receptors are totally different receptor subtypes. So this may not be a contradictory finding.
>Then I read another study which says that most >of the beneficial affects of antidepressants >comes from their action on the 5HT6 receptor.Bottom line, they don't know. One person studies the effects of these drugs on one set of receptors, and another studies another set.
>Then they talk about BDNF and then nicotine >receptors.
>I know there is more than one way of skinning a >cat I just wish it was a bit more straight >forward.The brain is probably one of the most complex things that mankind has ever studied.
>So I get really confused and also it doesn't >seem very encouraging when they can't seem to >come to an agreement about how antidepressants >actually work.Of course its discouraging. Especially when more than half of all clinical trials fail to show that antidepressants are better than placebo.
Even after all this time there is still debate as to how and why they work, or even *if* they work.
>Afterall if they are no closer to finding out >how antidepressants work then how can they >understand why they don't work? Or am I just >being stupid and wanting things to be dead >simple.It would be nice if somebody made a real breakthrough that was capable of producing meaningful clinical improvement to patients. I don't really trust the system at this current time though. Its not about health it is about $.
>Are they any closer than they were five years >ago to understanding the mechanics of depression >and what causes it (biologically) than they were >five years ago?I would personally say no, or at least not much.
In the past 5 years we have learned that antidepressants may make people more suicidal, that their efficacy has been way overblown and their side effects have been disguised.
One might even argue that psychiatry is weaker now than what it was 5 years ago. I mean sales for antidperessants are down since then.
>I do often feel discouraged and don't want to >carry on but then I think well you never know >maybe they will have found a cure in five years, >so it's worth hanging on for another five years >but then when I search the internet I feel more >discouraged than ever.
Hey I agree with you. It would be nice to believe there is going to be a breakthrough. I guess the same thing goes for any dabilitating disease.Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:759830
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070524/msgs/759865.html