Posted by zazenducke on April 25, 2012, at 14:18:47
psychcentral.comhttp://psychcentral.com/news/2012/04/25/weighing-the-real-risks-of-antidepressants/37802.html
Weighing the Real Risks of Antidepressants
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Weighing the Real Risks of AntidepressantsA new Canadian research paper suggests use of commonly prescribed antidepressants may do more harm than good.
Investigators believe knowledge of the negative effects of the medications may reduce their use.
We need to be much more cautious about the widespread use of these drugs, says Dr. Paul Andrews, an evolutionary biologist at McMaster University and lead author of the article.
Its important because millions of people are prescribed antidepressants each year, and the conventional wisdom about these drugs is that theyre safe and effective.
Andrews and his colleagues reviewed previous patient studies into the effects of antidepressants and determined that the benefits of most antidepressants, even taken at their best, compare poorly to the risks, which include premature death in elderly patients.
Most contemporary antidepressants are a class of compounds called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that work by increasing the levels of serotonin in the brain, where it regulates mood.
The vast majority of serotonin that the body produces, though, is used for other purposes, including digestion, forming blood clots at wound sites, reproduction and development.
In the current study, researchers discovered that anti-depressants have negative health effects on all processes normally regulated by serotonin.
The findings include these elevated risks:
developmental problems in infants;
problems with sexual stimulation and function and sperm development in adults;
digestive problems such as diarrhea, constipation, indigestion and bloating;
abnormal bleeding and stroke in the elderly.A literature review of three studies showed that elderly antidepressant users are more likely to die than non-users, even after taking other important variables into account.
Researchers believe that this higher death rate indicates that the overall effect of these drugs on the body is more harmful than beneficial.
Serotonin is an ancient chemical. Its intimately regulating many different processes, and when you interfere with these things you can expect, from an evolutionary perspective, that its going to cause some harm, Andrews said.
Although millions of people are prescribed antidepressants every year, Andrews said much of the evidence has long been apparent and available.
The thing thats been missing in the debates about antidepressants is an overall assessment of all these negative effects relative to their potential beneficial effects, he said. Most of this evidence has been out there for years and nobody has been looking at this basic issue.
In previous research, Andrews and his colleagues had questioned the effectiveness of antidepressants even for their prescribed function, finding that patients were more likely to suffer relapse after going off their medications as their brains worked to re-establish equilibrium.
With even the intended function of antidepressants in question, Andrews said it is important to look critically at their continuing use.
It could change the way we think about such major pharmaceutical drugs, he says. Youve got a minimal benefit, a laundry list of negative effects some small, some rare and some not so rare.
The issue is: does the list of negative effects outweigh the minimal benefit?
The study is published in the online journal Frontiers in Psychology.
Source: McMaster University
APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2012). Weighing the Real Risks of Antidepressants. Psych Central. Retrieved on April 25, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/04/25/weighing-the-real-risks-of-antidepressants/37802.html
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