Antidepressant medications have eased the suffering of millions of people. In addition to treating depression, antidepressant drugs also treat several anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, there are problematic limitations with antidepressant agents, including a delayed therapeutic response and insufficient efficacy. Emerging evidence shows that atypical antipsychotic agents can be used as augmenta...

BACKGROUND Deaths from antidepressants continue to account for a substantial proportion of drug-related deaths. AIMS To investigate the relative toxicity of the major classes of antidepressant drugs, with the specific objective of assessing this in relation to the cause of death; and to analyse the deaths where there were multiple mentions of antidepressant drugs or other psychoactive drugs w...

BACKGROUND Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in primary care in England and their use is increasing. This is largely due to longer durations of treatment of depression. Observational studies have shown some differences in adverse outcomes associated with different antidepressant drugs but relatively little is known about their relative safety particularly with long te...

F or at least four decades, the field of psychoimmunology has attracted numerous investigators based on diverse hints linking the immune system to emotional behavior. The administration of cytokines for the treatment of various diseases is often associated with depression, which frequently accompanies autoimmune disease. Now, in PNAS, Greengard and colleagues (1) report a specific molecular pat...

BACKGROUND It is widely believed that in randomized controlled trials of antidepressants the difference between drug and placebo response rates is rather small (around 20%), leading to a common perception that antidepressants have limited efficacy. AIM The aim of the present paper was to present an alternative calculation and interpretation of antidepressant-placebo difference in the treatmen...

introduction: depressive disorder is a prevalent psychiatric disorder, which affects 21% of the world population. the presently using drugs can impose a variety of side-effects including cardiac toxicity, hypopiesia, sexual dysfunction, body weight gain, and sleep disorder. during the last decade, there is a growing interest in the therapeutic effects of natural products on mental disorders. am...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to establish the relative safety and balance of risks for antidepressant treatment in older people. The study objectives were to (1) determine relative and absolute risks of predefined adverse events in older people with depression, comparing classes of antidepressant drugs [tricyclic and related antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor...

Background: Methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) is considered as an efficient and effective treatment in management of high risk opioids addiction; although, concomitant use of other drugs may interfere with treatment course and outcome in MMT cases. This study aimed at evaluating patterns of drug use along with methadone based on self reported and urine analysis data in two MMT clinics. Method...

OBJECTIVE In March 2004 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned physicians and patients regarding increased risk of suicide with 10 newer antidepressant drugs. Available data leave considerable uncertainty regarding actual risk of suicide attempt and death by suicide during antidepressant treatment. The authors used population-based data to evaluate the risk of suicide death and seri...

Cross hepatotoxicity between drugs in very uncommon. We report the case of a patient in whom acute hepatitis was induced by a tricyclic antidepressant, amineptine, and recurred early after administration of another tricyclic antidepressant, clomipramine. This observation suggests that the tricyclic ring is involved in the mechanism of the deleterious effect of both drugs to the liver.