A new study suggests that antidepressants in teenagers and children suffering from depression might result unsafe and ineffective. The meta-analysis study is composed of 34 clinical trials and 5,260 participants, aged between 9 to 18 were evaluated.
According to a review of the clinical trial, 14 antidepressants were analyzed, and only fluoxetine (Prozac) resulted effective while treating young people with major depression, unlike an inactive placebo.
Researchers reported that another drug, venlafaxine, was found linked to suicide. It seems that the drug produces suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts compared to a placebo and five other antidepressants. Other drugs such as Cymbalta and Tofranil produce the worst side effects, in fact, the side effects of these antidepressants are such that patients voluntarily stop taking them.
The study also pointed out that there is 3 percent of children aged between 6 and 12 suffering from major depression, and there is a 6 percent of teens, aged between 13 and 18, with the same mental condition.
The lead author of the study Dr. Andrea Cipriani, a professor at the University of Oxford, stated that as per clinical guidelines, major depressive disorder in young people must be treated with psychotherapy, particularly those treatments involving cognitive behavioral therapy or interpersonal therapy.
Further, Cipriani affirms that Prozac in young people’s treatment should be considered only in two particular cases: “in patients who do not have access to psychotherapy sessions or in the case of not responding to non-pharmacological interventions”.
Even if there are several published and unpublished trials in which it has been proved the effectiveness of antidepressants in the treatment of young people, Cipriani says that people should not be completely confident about the accuracy of these trails.
#Antidepressants for kids and teens ineffective, may even be harmful, study finds https://t.co/pz7mNP8xo1
— ABC News (@abcnews) June 8, 2016
Dr. Peter Kramer, a professor at Brown University, said that the study’s findings are not surprisingly at all. According to him, the ineffectiveness and risks of these medications in children have been formally tested, and antidepressants are effective and safe only in adults.
Kramer likewise pointed out that Prozac has always shown relatively more effects at relieving the symptoms of depression, but it can only be used in those desperate cases when the illness becomes destructive for patients. In general, the treatment of major depression in young people should begin with psychotherapy.
In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned, in 2004, about the use of antidepressants in children and teenagers because of the high risks, associated with suicide, these drugs may have.
On June 8, the findings were published in the medical journal The Lancet.
Source: The Borneo Post