Previous
Antidepressants continue to be linked to suicidal thoughts
Added: (Wed Sep 07 2005)
Studies continue to pour in linking antidepressants of all types to increase suicidal thoughts in patients with depression. For at least two years, researchers have found that children and adolescents on depression pills tend to have more thoughts of suicide, and now scientists are discovering the same trend among adults as well. Be sure to read the related article, Psychiatric Drugs: Chemical Warfare on Humans - interview with Robert Whitaker.
See more articles like this one at www.AntidepressantsNews.com
Original news summary:
(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,148044,00.html)
Studies continue to raise questions about the risk of suicide in patients treated with antidepressant drugs.
In 2004, the FDA concluded that antidepressant medications (search) increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adolescents with depression (search).
A new review bolsters claims of an increased risk of suicidal behavior in people taking the most popular antidepressants, but a second trial found no increase in such risk among depressed patients taking selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (search) (SSRIs).
A third study showed the risk of suicidal behavior to be no greater in patients taking SSRIs than in those taking an older class of antidepressants.
Untreated moderate-to-severe depression in adults appears to pose a bigger suicide risk than SSRI use.
In one of the newly published studies, researchers assessed the risk of self-harm and suicide among 146,000 patients taking either SSRIs or tricyclic antidepressants.
They found that the SSRIs and tricyclics, such as Elavil, Norpramin, or Pamelor, had similar risk profiles with regard to suicide and self-harm in adults.
"Our finding that SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants (search) have a similar risk profile with respect to self-harm and nonfatal self-harm is reassuring," researcher Carlos Martinez, PhD, and colleagues from the United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency wrote.
Researcher Dean Fergusson, PhD, and colleagues from Canada's Ottawa Health Research Institute analyzed 700 studies involving more than 87,000 patients.
Submitted by:
News Real