Tag archives for Antidepressants
Managing Resistant Depression. Part 8
Posted By Kelly On Monday, May 2nd 2011 under: Depression Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Drugs, Medications, Mental Disorder, Mental health
Absolute treatment resistance
In most surveys, the number of patients with absolute treatment resistance is very small. In some specialized tertiary referral clinics, only about 7% of patients remain depressed after 1 year of extensive investigations and treatment. However, extensive treatment involves many drug trials, singly and in combination, as well as ECT. Typically, people with absolute treatment resistance are older (mean age about 55), have been depressed for a longer ... Read More
Management of Resistant Depression. Prophylaxis. Conclusion
Posted By Kelly On Wednesday, March 10th 2010 under: Management Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Treatment
Prophylaxis
Discussing prevention of relapse or recurrence of major depression is beyond the scope of this paper but is clearly important. Long-term use of antidepressants is sometimes necessary particularly if patients have two or more episodes. Compliance becomes absolutely necessary, but side effects often cause patients to stop taking medications. Tricyclics and, to a lesser degree, traditional monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) have many side effects because they act on the muscarinic, ... Read More
Management of Resistant Depression. Less Approaches. Treatment Resistance.
Posted By Kelly On Monday, March 8th 2010 under: Management Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Treatment
Less common approaches.
Many less commonly used antidepressant therapies are supported by anecdotal evidence only. They include light therapy (non-seasonal affective disorder), high-dose TCA or MAOI therapy (only if serum levels can be monitored), intravenous clomipramine or maprotiline (allows for rapid perfusion, avoids first pass liver metabolism), bromocriptine, high-dose selegiline, and psychosurgery. Modern stereotaxic psychosurgical procedures offer symptom relief with minimal risk, and reports of large trials indicate that up to ... Read More
Management of treatment-resistant depression: strategies for treatment
Posted By Kelly On Saturday, March 6th 2010 under: Management Tags: Antidepressants, clomipramine-tryptophan-trd, Depression, Treatment
Common strategies for treatment resistance.
Electroconvulsive therapy
An important and effective treatment for depression, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in about 90% of cases of major depression. The success rate drops when it is used for drug-refractory cases. Using ECT depends on patient-related factors: it clearly is the treatment of choice for depression with psychomotor slowing, stupor, psychotic symptoms, or depression requiring rapid response because of suicidal risk or malnutrition. Use of ... Read More
Management of treatment-resistant depression: Switching antidepressants
Posted By Kelly On Thursday, March 4th 2010 under: Management Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, depression-symptoms-chart, Treatment
If lithium augmentation is ineffective, it should be discontinued and the antidepressant changed (Table 5). A lack of response to one of the newer agents in a class, such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), does not predict lack of response to others in that class. If the first drug used was a reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase A (RIMA) with only one drug in the class, the ... Read More
Management of treatment-resistant depression (TRD)
Posted By Kelly On Tuesday, March 2nd 2010 under: Management Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, lithium-augmentation-success, lithium-success-in-treating-depression, Treatment
Major depression is best managed through a treatment algorithm. The more resistant to treatment a patient's illness is, the further treatment proceeds through the steps. As each trial of therapy is deemed ineffective, diagnosis should be reviewed and physical and psychosocial factors reassessed before making a decision about the next step. Psychotherapy is an essential accompaniment to any form of somatic treatment. Supportive psychotherapy offers reassurance and time for patients ... Read More
Management of Resistant Depression. Factors. Treatment Adequate.
Posted By Kelly On Sunday, February 28th 2010 under: Management Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Mental Disorder, Treatment
Are there underlying physical factors?
Many physical diseases present with depressive symptoms or complicate depressive illness (Table 2). Some of these illnesses remain undetected for years and account for an apparent treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Normal thyroid function is particularly important; even mild or subclinical hypothyroidism can impair response to antidepressants. Hypothyroidism can be induced by lithium therapy, and many drugs, both medical and nonmedical, can cause depression or complicate treatment (Table ... Read More
Antidepressants – thirty years on
Posted By Kelly On Monday, February 1st 2010 under: Book review Tags: Antidepressants
Brian Leonard and Paul Spenser, eds.
Colchester: Portland Press, 1991, 516 pp
ISBN 1-869868-74-9
The Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of General Practitioners launched a 5-year Defeat Depression Campaign on 30 January 1992. The first year of the campaign is intended to educate health professionals in the recognition and treatment of depression.
This book, which is the proceedings of the Conference of the British Society for Psycho-Pharmacology held in Ireland in ... Read More
Major Depressive Disorder
Posted By Kelly On Saturday, January 30th 2010 under: Disorders Tags: Antidepressants, Depressive disorders, Tofranil, Treatment
The American Psychiatric Association (1983) reports that recurrent episodes occur in at least 50% of patients who seek treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). Most studies, though, have examined only single occurrences. To help describe the episodic nature of MDD, the National Institute of Mental Health initiated the Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology of Depression, a prospective, naturalistic, longitudinal investigation. This program's early research found the cumulative probability of recurrence ... Read More
St. John’s Wort and the Treatment of Depression
Posted By Kelly On Sunday, January 24th 2010 under: Treatment of Depression Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Medications, Treatment
Historically, St. John’s wort has been used as an herbal remedy for depression, anxiety, diuresis, gastritis and insomnia. Recent studies demonstrate that the extract, primarily hypericin, is a strong, and nearly irreversible, inhibitor of monoamine oxidase types A and B.
Patient Presentation and History
JS is a 37-year-old female who comes to the pharmacy intending to purchase St. John’s wort. She has heard that it can relieve depression, and she firmly believes ... Read More