The efficacy of antidepressant medication has once again been called into question , with novel enquiry finding that the ethical drug of drugs for low in children and teenager is ineffective at best .
Out of 14 antidepressant medications , onlyfluoxetine(Prozac ) was found to be effective . On the flip side , venlafaxine(Effexor ) was linked to an increased hazard of suicidal thoughts and effort compare with a placebo and other antidepressants .
" The proportion of peril and benefit of antidepressants for the intervention of major depression does not seem to extend a clear vantage in tike and adolescent , ” said Professor Peng Xie , report co - author from The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University , in astatement . “ We recommend that child and adolescent ingest antidepressants should be monitor closely , disregardless of the antidepressant choose , peculiarly at the origin of discourse . ”
This is crucial as the spectrum of depression varies wide across eld and universe . In kid age 6 to 12 years old , roughly 3 percentage are diagnose with Great Depression . For kid senesce 13 to 18 years old , this number jumps to 5 percent .
The written report face at 34 trials postulate a total of 5,260 participant . Of these , 65 percent of the trials were fund by drug companies , perchance skew the findings in a slightly more friendly light .
In an ensuant comment , Dr Jon Jureidini of the University of Adelaidequestionsthe reliability of antidepressant data . He notes that in four paroxetine test , 3 pct of inauspicious events were reported in the paroxetine radical , but upon patient role - level datum reanalysis , that number was closer to 10.8 percent .
He adds : “ The consequence of misreporting is that antidepressant drug , possibly admit fluoxetine hydrocholoride , are likely to be more dangerous and less effective treatment than has been antecedently recognized . "
In all , the inquiry highlight the penury for further comprehensive research into antidepressant drug medication .
“ When consider the risk - benefit profile of antidepressants in the acuate handling of major depressive disorderliness , these drug do not seem to offer a well-defined advantage for children and adolescents , " the authors conclude . " Fluoxetine is in all probability the best choice to consider when a pharmacological treatment is indicated . ”
simulacrum in text : Thomas Wilson Pratt Slatin / Wikimedia Commons
