Antidepressants And Children Not A Good Mix
The April 10th issue of the British Medical
Journal (BMJ) contains a clinical review that shows that antidepressants
should not be prescribed as a medication for depression in people under 18
years of age. According to the BMJ, Australian researchers analyzed
existing results from six
randomized
controlled trials of newer antidepressants and their use in children. The
review team found what they called "disturbing shortcomings", in the study
results published on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such
as Effexor, Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.
As a result of the study,
the researchers stated "Antidepressant drugs cannot confidently be
recommended as a treatment option for childhood depression." The BMJ report
itself stated, "Two small studies found no statistically significant
advantage for antidepressants over placebo on any of the outcome measures
reported. Of the remaining four papers, two did and two did not show
statistically significant advantages for antidepressants over placebo on
primary outcome measures."
In addition to not seeing
any benefits, the report also noted that there may be a conflict of interest
as the pharmaceutical companies paid for the trials and otherwise
remunerated the authors of at least three of the four larger studies.
The BMJ study concluded:
"We are concerned that biased reporting and overconfident recommendations in
treatment guidelines may mislead doctors, patients, and families. Many will
undervalue non-drug treatments that are probably both safer and more
effective.
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