Antidepressants: choose the best
Psychiatrists named the most effective antidepressants
Natalia Pelezneva, Naked Science
An international team of scientists compared the results of 522 studies involving more than 116,000 people and came to the conclusion: modern antidepressants are really effective in combating major depressive disorder. The authors compiled a list of drugs that proved to be the most effective compared to placebo and caused the least number of side effects. The study is published in the Lancet journal.
The authors of the article note: people suffering from depression do not always receive the necessary medications. One of the common reasons is patients' prejudice against antidepressants. Survey results show that many patients with depression refuse to take medications because they consider them ineffective.
The researchers studied 522 scientific papers, including unpublished data from pharmaceutical companies. Data on 21 popular drugs were taken into account, 116,477 people participated in the studies. Drug trials were conducted using a randomized controlled double–blind study - participants were divided into groups secretly from both patients and experimenters. The authors of the new work compared the results of therapy 8 weeks after the completion of the course of the drug or placebo.
All the antidepressants studied were more effective than placebo. The most effective was amitriptyline, a drug from the group of tricyclic antidepressants. It affects not only the main symptoms of depression, but also reduces anxiety and irritability. Most of the most effective drugs belong to the group of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – today this group of drugs is considered one of the most promising. Nevertheless, the authors of the work believe that each drug from the list may be useful, since antidepressants are selected taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient.
Agomelatin, a drug that stimulates melatonin receptors, is the leader in the list of drugs that combine effectiveness with a "mild" effect and a minimum of side effects. The second was SSRI escitalopram, which is used not only for depression, but also for anxiety and panic disorders.
Earlier studies have shown how many people suffering from depression do not receive the necessary medical care – treatment with antidepressants or psychotherapy. According to scientists, in industrialized countries, one in six patients with depression receives suitable therapy, in developing countries – one in 27.
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