Guest guest Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 Passing this information along, regarding Prozac Minor Concerns "A complicated web of money, emotion, science and regulation." That's how a reporter for National Public Radio (NPR) described the recent hearing conducted by an FDA advisory panel, convened to examine the negative effects that antidepressant drugs have on children. No comment was expected from the panel until summer. So it came as a surprise when the panel issued a statement last week recommending that warnings are needed immediately to elevate the level of concern for doctors who might prescribe antidepressants to treat young patients. But any doctor who's not already concerned - who hasn't been aware, for instance, of the disturbing number of young people who have committed suicide while taking these drugs - simply hasn't been paying attention. ---------------- Secret keepers ---------------- Last October, the FDA issued a warning that doctors should be cautious in prescribing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs, such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft) to children. The warning cited the possibility that SSRIs may be linked to suicides when taken by patients under the age of 18. Then in December, regulators in the UK issued a warning that SSRIs may be unsuitable for children because of an estimated 3.2 percent increased risk of suicide among children who take these drugs. The warning also revealed that several negative studies of SSRI effects on young patients have been withheld from publication. This supposed revelation was referred to as a "smoking gun" by some, but no one who's familiar with the drug approval process is surprised. When drug makers conduct trials in preparation for an FDA review, they routinely withhold studies that could be damaging - submitting only the studies that would encourage FDA approval. This is their right under the current system. They fund all of the research, so they can keep any study secret if the results would negatively affect a pending approval. The problem with this system is obvious: When negative results are withheld, doctors may end up prescribing a drug without knowing about some of the associated problems. But because SSRIs are such popular drugs, their effects on children have also been researched in government-funded studies. And according to a report on NPR, analysts have found that government studies are far more likely than industry-funded studies to conclude that antidepressants may not work well for children. Show of hands: Is anyone really shocked by this? ---------------- Safe alternatives ---------------- An FDA analysis of available SSRI studies involving children suggests that more than 100 subjects experienced suicide- related behaviors. Advocates of SSRI use in children (and there are many) say that the number of suicides by users of the drugs are offset by the number of kids who would commit suicide without the drugs. But this argument only holds water if you completely ignore the natural alternatives to treating depression. Prescribing drugs to address depression has become so common that the idea of giving SSRIs to kids makes perfect sense to doctors with pharmaceutical tunnel vision. Apparently, most of them never imagine that nutritional changes can often provide effective treatment for depression in young and old alike. In the e-Alert "Omega Delta Blues" (10/28/02), I told you how those who experience mild to moderate depression often find relief with an increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids (in fish or fish oil supplements). And people who are depressed are often deficient in magnesium, which is found in whole grains, nuts and leafy green vegetables. Herbal supplements like valerian root, chamomile, black cohosh, and rosemary may also help manage depression. And the standout among the herbs for mild to moderate depression is, of course, St. John's wort, which is sometimes called the "natural Prozac" for its apparent ability to help manage the proper functioning of seratonin in the brain. High levels of B vitamins have also been shown to relieve symptoms of depression. In addition to supplements, good dietary sources of vitamin B are: tuna, salmon, avocados, bananas, mangoes, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, poultry and meat. Note that stress (which often goes hand in hand with depression) is believed to deplete the body's store of B vitamins. If you're the parent or grandparent of a child who's struggling with depression, I urge you to explore the dietary and supplement options before you choose to medicate with a powerful drug whose effects in children have been studied, but not completely revealed. The HSI e-Alert Through strong word of mouth and the growing support of our members, we have added over 360,000 readers worldwide. Now you are invited to join people all over the world that receive news of urgent medical issues and life-saving cures. Our promise is to keep you informed of the most recent breakthroughs and advancements in complementary and alternative medicine. For example, did you know... The cure for arthritis could be hiding in your spice rack? A natural cancer-killing compound was hidden for seven years by one of America's billion-dollar drug companies? The biggest culprit in heart disease is NOT cholesterol and it can't be cured with statin drugs? Make sure you are the first to know about new cures - and new threats to your health. Sign up now. It's absolutely free - and, should you wish, you can at any time. Enter your e-mail address: HSI We understand and respect how much you value your privacy. That is why we guarantee we will never sell your e-mail address. ....and another thingI've lost count of all the e-Alerts I've sent telling you about the various hormone replacement therapy (HRT) studies that have been shut down because of concerns for the safety of subjects participating in the studies. The latest HRT study to be abruptly concluded involved 345 women. Half of them were taking HRT, while the other half took a non-hormonal treatment for menopause symptoms. Two years into the study, researchers at the University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, found that more than 25 women in the HRT group were diagnosed with a new case or a recurrence of breast cancer. During that same period, seven women in the non-HRT group were diagnosed with breast cancer. The study was stopped three years short of its planned end date. Now imagine if instead of HRT they were studying, let's say, the herb black cohosh (a natural alternative to HRT), and had found, again and again, that it increased the risk of a specific type of cancer. You can be sure the medical establishment drums would be pounding loud and long with demands to ban the herb worldwide. Would any treatment that wasn't a pharmaceutical be tolerated like this? It's inconceivable. It makes you wonder why we're still hearing about these studies being closed down. If others are still ongoing, isn't time to consider shutting them down too? How many more cases of breast cancer will it take before the mainstream is finally convinced that synthetic HRT is simply an unsafe risk? To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson Health Sciences InstituteSources: "Antidepressant Makers Withhold Data - Info From Clinical Trials on Children Kept Secret" Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post, 1/29/04, msnbc.com "Antidepressants Too Risky for Kids?" Associated Press, 2/2/04, cnn.com "Advisers Urge Warnings of Kids' Antidepressant Risks" Associated Press, 2/3/04, cnn.com "FDA Weighs Antidepressants' Safety" Joanne Silberner, NPR Morning Edition, 2/2/04, npr.org "Prozac Cleared for Kids" Associated Press, 1/3/03, ap.org "FDA Approves Prozac for Pediatric Population" Reuters Health, 1/3/03, reutershealth.com "Hormone Therapy Study Halted Over Cancer Concerns" Associated Press, 2/3/04, cnn.com Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.7.2 - Release 1/21/2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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