PARIS -- In patients with dementia, standard antidepressants were no better than placebo at relieving depression symptoms and actually made many of them feel worse, a researcher said here.
In a randomized trial involving more than 300 depressed patients with dementia, those receiving placebo showed the same decrease in symptoms as patients assigned to mirtazapine (Remeron) or sertraline (Zoloft), reported Sube Banerjee, MBBS, MD, MSc, of King's College London.
In an oral presentation at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease, Banerjee also indicated that, after 39 weeks of treatment, adverse reactions were reported in more than 40% of patients receiving either of the antidepressants, compared with 26% of the placebo group.
"Essentially there is no superiority of either drug -- over each other or placebo -- in this trial," he said, noting that it was the largest randomized study of antidepressants for this indication yet conducted.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Alzheimer's Patients Not Helped by Antidepressants - MedPage Today
via medpagetoday.com
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