Antidepressant Seen as Effective in Treatment of Adolescents

[Guest guest]

I haven't seen any of the study yet, but I have very few doubts that eventually

this sudy will be disproved, but at what cost in lives damaged. I think that it

was designed and implimented to bring about a predetermined desired result for

the sole purpose as to give these drugs a boost in credibilty which have been

damaged worldwide in recent times. F.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/02/health/02DEPR.html?th

 

Antidepressant Seen as Effective in Treatment of AdolescentsBy GARDINER HARRIS

 

Published: June 2, 2004

 

 

PHOENIX, June 1 — In the midst of a worldwide debate on whether depressed

children should be treated with antidepressant drugs like Prozac, a landmark

government-financed study has found that Prozac helps teenagers overcome

depression far better than talk therapy. But a combination of the two

treatments, the study found, produced the best result.

 

 

The study, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, was the first

to compare psychotherapy and drug treatment for depressed adolescents.

Statistically, the researchers found, talk therapy — in which a patient

discusses problems with a therapist — was by itself no more effective in

reducing the depression than treatment with placebos. But when combined with

drug treatment, psychotherapy appeared to provide added benefit and to reduce

the risk of suicide.

 

The findings are likely to reassure psychiatrists, pediatricians and others who

increasingly prescribe antidepressants to teenagers and children. Millions of

young people take the drugs.

 

Experts said that the study was notable for its size and for the fact that it

was carried out without financing by drug manufacturers. Data on the effects of

antidepressants in adolescents is in short supply. Most studies of the question

have been small trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies and have failed to

show that the drugs are effective for depressed teenagers.

 

" This study should put to rest doubts about whether these drugs work in

teenagers with severe depression, " said Dr. Graham Emslie, a professor of

psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and an author

of the study, which was presented here on Tuesday at a meeting of psychiatric

drug researchers.

 

Still, the findings are unlikely to resolve the controversy over whether Prozac

and similar drugs lead a small number of teenagers and children to become

suicidal.

 

Such concerns led the Food and Drug Administration to warn earlier this year

that patients taking the drugs should be watched closely for signs of suicide or

other harmful behavior in the first weeks of therapy. The agency is reanalyzing

suicidal events that occurred during drug-company trials of antidepressants in

children and teenagers. British drug regulators have banned the use of all but

Prozac in those younger than 18.

 

The government study, called the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression

Study, involved 439 youths ages 12 to 17 who were suffering from moderate to

severe depression.

 

The adolescents were randomly assigned to be treated for a period of 36 weeks

with either Prozac, the antidepressant drug made by Eli Lilly & Company; a form

of talk therapy known as cognitive behavioral therapy; placebo pills; or a

combination of Prozac and talk therapy.

 

The researchers collected data on the subjects for a year, but have only

analyzed information from the first 12 weeks so far. Of the youths recruited for

the study, 378 completed the first 12 weeks of treatment. Their mean age was 15.

Depression levels were measured using several common psychological scales.

 

Using one measurement scale, the researchers found that after 12 weeks, 71

percent of the subjects who received Prozac and talk therapy responded well to

treatment, compared with 61 percent of those who received Prozac alone, 43

percent of who received talk therapy alone and 35 percent of those who received

a placebo treatment. By another measure, talk therapy alone fared no better than

treatment with placebos.

 

The researchers also found that patients became significantly less suicidal, no

matter which treatment they were given. No patient committed suicide during the

trial. But the risk of a suicide attempt among the patients given Prozac was

twice that of those who did not, the study found. There were five suicide

attempts among those given Prozac and just one among other participants.

 

Dr. John March, a professor of psychiatry at Duke University and the study's

lead investigator, said that the findings showed Prozac's benefits for depressed

teenagers and children far outweighed its risks. " The take-home message is that

these adverse events are extremely rare,'' he said.

 

Dr. March acknowledged, however, that the controversy about suicide and

antidepressant therapy was far from resolved. " We're all holding our breath to

see what the F.D.A. is going to do,'' he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Messenger