United States: A new large-scale review demonstrated that depression medications work effectively for treating the anxiety disorder known as generalized anxiety disorder.
Scientists from Canada and Italy studied available evidence to determine the effectiveness of the antidepressant drug Prozac, which medical professionals currently use for treatment purposes.
Study details
A research study with 12,000 participants through Cochrane review demonstrated a 41 percent improvement in reduction of symptoms among drug consumers compared to those who received placebos.
The medical community estimates that at least 2 percent of the British population maintains a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) diagnosis, with the majority being women.
The primary symptom of GAD involves recurrent feelings of worry regarding daily activities, while other indications consist of sleep problems, concentration issues, indigestion, heart irregularities, faintness, and depressive symptoms, as Daily Mail reported.
Participants receiving the medicine qualified as effective treatments if they experienced at least a 50 percent improvement according to Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores during medication intake.
Through this assessment method, patients who have GAD rate the intensity of their 14 GAD symptoms from zero to a maximum of four.
Studies evaluated different antidepressant medications that included selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), tricyclic antidepressants, and specifically vilazodone and agomelatine.
Data revealed that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors operated with 15 percent greater efficacy than the drugs encompassing Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors, including duloxetine and venlafaxine.
What more are the experts stating?
Medical experts doubt that scientists have sufficient proof to document the way mind-altering medications affect the brain during extended use periods.
Few antidepressants like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) medications, as well as other antidepressants, have shown evidence in scientific research of causing prolonged sexual abnormalities and even complete sexual dysfunction, according to previous studies.
According to Professor Peter Tyrer, an expert in community psychiatry at Imperial College London,” The findings of this review are unequivocal – antidepressants are effective in the treatment of generalized anxiety in the short-term,” Daily Mail reported.
“But in responding to this evidence, the long-term implications also have to be considered. Long-term treatment, as noted in the review, is often the norm, and there is increasing concern that patients have difficulties in stopping antidepressants because of withdrawal problems,” Tyrer continued.
‘Brief resolution does not effect a cure,’ he added.