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May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 9:22:36 AM   
NorthernGent


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Reported in today's The Independent and splashed all over the Internet:

a) One of the largest studies of modern anti-depressant drugs (Prozac, Sexorat etc) has recently been wrapped up.

b)  In the study, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of all 47 clinical trials submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration in support of licensing applications for six of the best known anti-depressants, including Prozac. Ultimately, this research shows the drugs were effective only in a very small group of the most extremely depressed.

c) The study was conducted at the University of Hull; the data analsyes that of all trials, published and unpublished, at the time the drugs were licensed were analysed.

d) The Independent claims pharmaceutical companies are holding back information relating to trials which show the drugs are largely useless, i.e. the unpublished trials included in the study.

e) According to The Independent, medical journals comply in this process as they vie for readers and have a vested interest in reporting dramatic results.

A view gathering pace and supported by a comprehensive study of data that is withheld from the public. Any comments?

Edited for spelling.

< Message edited by NorthernGent -- 2/26/2008 9:23:20 AM >


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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 9:24:59 AM   
CalifChick


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I would say it's curious in that in my own observations in my workplace say different (on the effectiveness issue).

Cali


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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 9:30:44 AM   
DaddyKeeper


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Well given my limited experience of Prozac users, all 3 of them so not a very big statistical universe I admit, it does have quite an effect, just not the effect it is supposed to have

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 9:31:17 AM   
NorthernGent


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Can you put some meat on the bones of your workplace and observations, Cali?

Cheers. 

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 9:35:22 AM   
kittinSol


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Yeah, I heard that on the radio last night. Not all that surprising, when you think about it...

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 9:56:28 AM   
philosophy


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........the SSI's are a useful drug, especially when you consider the dearth of pharmaceuticals available in the field previously. However they ought not be relied on by mental health systems. They're a useful adjunct, not a miracle pill.........

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 9:59:30 AM   
kittinSol


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Well, the news report shows that the drug companies who put out these drugs decided to cover up the trials which showed they weren't more effective than placebos in the majority of cases.

They appear to 'work' only in severely depressed people... and they're commonly prescribed for a wider range of depressive illness, such as mild to moderate.

Drug companies: the new Devil?

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 10:01:52 AM   
CalifChick


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I have worked for about 10 years as support staff, biller, consultant, office manager, practice manager, you-name-it, for mental health providers - psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists.  We have done a number of tracking studies of patients who indicate improvement, patients who just stop coming, patients who indicate no improvement, etc., to see how we can better serve our patients.

I'm not at liberty to release numbers or hard data, but I can say that antidepressants improved the quality of life for more than a fourth of the people that were mildly depressed, and the numbers were even better for those that were severely depressed (dx of major depression 296.xx). A significant problem is that people expect the first drug they are put on to be a miracle cure when it often takes trying more than one drug to find the right one for each person, and when they first drug doesn't "cure" them, they simply give up. And patient education is a hit or miss on affecting that - some people understand it may take a while and some people don't, no matter what you tell them.

No, it wasn't a double-blind scientific study or anything like that, don't get me wrong there.  It's just what I see in my world.

Cali


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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 10:04:48 AM   
LadyEllen


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NG - I caught the headline on one of the papers that said 40 million people were being prescribed these drugs

Did this refer to the UK alone, Europe as a whole, the western world, the US or some other geographic area please?

It just made me think, that given we have around 60 million people, 10 million of whom are likely to be kids, it would mean that almost everyone was on one of these drugs!

E

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 10:10:20 AM   
Aileen1968


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quote:

ORIGINAL: NorthernGent

Reported in today's The Independent and splashed all over the Internet:

a) One of the largest studies of modern anti-depressant drugs (Prozac, Sexorat etc) has recently been wrapped up.

b)  In the study, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of all 47 clinical trials submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration in support of licensing applications for six of the best known anti-depressants, including Prozac. Ultimately, this research shows the drugs were effective only in a very small group of the most extremely depressed.

c) The study was conducted at the University of Hull; the data analsyes that of all trials, published and unpublished, at the time the drugs were licensed were analysed.

d) The Independent claims pharmaceutical companies are holding back information relating to trials which show the drugs are largely useless, i.e. the unpublished trials included in the study.

e) According to The Independent, medical journals comply in this process as they vie for readers and have a vested interest in reporting dramatic results.

A view gathering pace and supported by a comprehensive study of data that is withheld from the public. Any comments?

Edited for spelling.



Ohhhhh...that's sooo sad.

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 10:10:47 AM   
kittinSol


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The placebo effect is a mysterious and fascinating phenomenon. I think it even works for pain relief.

Doesn't work as a contraceptive... unsurprisingly.

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 11:46:16 AM   
LadyHibiscus


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Well sure they don't work for everyone.  Prozac nearly killed me!  And not in a fun, bungee-jumping kind of way.  Considering that it takes 4-6 WEEKS of treatment to know if anything at all is going to happen from antidepressants, good or bad, it seems like sheer moneygrubbing to prescibe them for mild depression. 

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 12:06:14 PM   
Termyn8or


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How about some other statistical evidence that doesn't seem to be available. Suicide for example.

And how many of the people who "go postal" are on SSRIs ?

You know the Columbine shooters were on SSRIs, or did they forget to mention that ?

My opinion on SSRIs is that you are beter off drinking and getting high. At least you know what that'll do to you. With these pills, it seems sometimes they bring out insidious problems that did not appear before. I don't think there is a way to tell if they were already there, or if they were created by the drug.

But that's just me. Everything I take, I know EXACTLY how it is going to affect me. And I will never agree to take anything for the rest of my life, well maybe beer. But you have to be careful with anything. Of course with the beer, or any alcohol you need to be careful. YOU have to remember after that first sixpack NO CARS and NO GUNS.

In the case of SSRIs you have no idea. At the very least when they put someone on an SSRI they should be observed for a time, perhaps even institutionalized for a short time.

But a better solution I think would be for them to fix psychology. I did not say psychiatry, a psychologist does not prescribe drugs. All forms of psychotherapy should be tried before drugs are administered.

Even good friends can help one through hard times. But some people do not have the right kind of friends for that. A good psychologist would endevor to bring you out and help you find your own self worth. He would also teach you how to look away from all the terrible shit going on in the world and apply yourself to your own life.

Basically I think depression is at an all time high because life sucks. Rather than "curing" someone so they can get on with their life, they would rather just give them a pill. This is what it has come to. In a way you can say that 1984 is here, forever. Is your pill blue or red ?

Actually I do not think the system is fixable. Drug company executives run the FDA, literally, they have two jobs. If that isn't a conflict of interest tell me what is. They also give grants to medical schools, on top of funding research.

If you think that doesn't give them a hell of alot of influence I have this oceanfront property in Arizona.

Another form of influence is the media, at least in the US. When they run the same ad twice in each commercial break, they are buying influence. Why else would they do it ? But bet you believe when that drug kills someone, guess what is considered not newsworthy ?

And now that you brought up this particular subject, I have been reading for a very long time, and sometime in the 70s or 80s I read that in a double blind study, a placebo seemed to cure headaches just as well as aspirin. I only saw it once, but that doesn't surprise me.

I got my Mother off aspirin. She was always taking it and she was always getting headaches. She stopped taking it and stopped getting headaches.

I haven't had an aspirin in about 35 years and I don't get headaches. I rarely get something that could be descibed as a headache I guess, but it passes quickly. It happens maybe once every five years or so, and is always gone within five minutes.

When I read about the aspirin study there was no internet. Providing evidence is impossible, but from my own personal observations, we have had the wool pulled over our eyes for a long time now. But draw your own conclusions.

Here's what I think is a hoot. They got a combo drug now for high BP and high choleserol. On the commercial they used Dr Jarvic, the inventor of the first artificial heart. I commented on the fact that if this drug is effective against heart disease, he makes less money. Then my Father informed me that they quit using the Jarvic model a long time ago. Maybe he needs the money.

I do not trust "them", never have and never will. If I EVER go under a doctor's care for any reason, I am going to be the most proactive, curious and well informed patient they have. My Father did the same thing. I can't say whether his doctor likes seeing him or not, but he has surprised them more than once. They've said things to him like "How do you know that ?", his reply, "Hey I got a PDR and the internet". This just after refusing a drug. He told them straight out he is not taking any calcium blockers, and he's not too crazy about MAO inhibitors. IF he were to take them the need would have to be great.

Then they wanted to give him Lipitor, the liver destroyer, and he prodded them. He knew well it was for cholesterol, and he said "What is the number ?". They hemmed and hawed for a minute, but he persisted. They finally said (IIRC) 210. Then what is normal, like 180 ? He told them to stick it up, well, to make sure it did not get a sunburn.

And there are other sources, one says that your life expectancy decreases if your cholesterol goes much below 200.

All of this indicates that the real drug pushers are not out on the street. Not proof, but the evidence seems to mount doesn't it ?

T

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 12:08:55 PM   
Justme696


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quote:

How about some other statistical evidence that doesn't seem to be available. Suicide for example.


http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention.shtml



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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 12:33:26 PM   
PanthersMom


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maybe people should stop being so damned lazy and expecting a pill to "cure" them.  i have lived with depression most of my life and handled it well until a number of life changing events hit all at once.  I have taken two medications for my conditions, major depression, GAD and PTSD and have managed to get myself back to normal.  we attempted to stop meds to see if i could maintain my level of function but that was not possible.  i will most likely be on meds for life.  it took about six months to find the right combination, but once we did it was still a process to get better.

i did not rely on these pills to get better, i took them and still take them to allow my brain to function properly and have learned better behaviors to cope with the events that have completely changed my life.  i did not lay in bed and wait for some miraculous epiphany, i got up and got moving, went to therapy, got out of the house, got a job, and i'm going to school.  i have had some new things happen in my life that have added to the life changes, but being on the meds and in therapy has allowed me to handle these events well and keep going.  i do not have sessions as often as i did, now it's more of a checkup to make sure i stay in line and do not fall into old thought patterns.

medications are an aid, not a cure.  they help us to live better, but we must work with the effects to attain that "better living through chemistry".  maybe the reason the people in the study were not able to achieve the expected results was a failure in themselves, not in the drugs.

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 12:44:17 PM   
LadyEllen


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CBT is the way forward as far as my experience goes. The problem though, is that CBT takes time, requires a trained person to work with the patient in most cases, and space and money resources - and a pill is so much easier for the system to use.

But only where the depression is mild to moderate; where the depression is moderate to severe, the pills are effective it would seem; the problem is that the pills are being used to treat the majority of depressed patients, the mildly to moderately depressed - and in this group the pills appear to not be effective. But again, much easier for the system than getting involved in CBT and other psychological treatments. And of course a far more profitable situation for the drug companies, is to have the pills used at the merest mention of depression.

Termyn8or - interesting what you say about Aspirin; I have the same experience with Paracetamol - doesnt do anything but give me a headache on its own! Though as a combo pain treatment with opiates, it does seem to boost the painkilling effect of the opiates.

E

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 1:01:38 PM   
Alumbrado


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quote:

(PM)...maybe people should stop being so damned lazy and expecting a pill to "cure" them. 


Exactly... and then maybe they would stop being surprised at the 'secret' that they don't always work as advertised.

Nothing has prevented people who wanted to do their own homework from finding out about positive and negative aspects of Prozac and other drugs, including clinical trial history, efficacy, side effects, etc. years ago.
The negative reports weren't locked in vaults, they were just downplayed and spun.

More folks should quit letting the corporations, OR the media do their thinking for them.

< Message edited by Alumbrado -- 2/26/2008 1:02:05 PM >

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 1:05:54 PM   
Jeffff


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I take coumadin. If I don't take it, my blood clots and I would need to be hospitalized. That would depress me. 

Jeff

Edited because sometimes spell check is to effective..:)

< Message edited by Jeffff -- 2/26/2008 1:38:07 PM >

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 1:34:06 PM   
lauren0221


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Jeffff

I take comedian. If I don't take it, my blood clots and I would need to be hospitalized. That would depress me.

Jeff


I am not a physician, but it seems to be working well.

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RE: May be of interest...... - 2/26/2008 1:40:38 PM   
CalifChick


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LMAO.  It was funnier when he said he was taking comedian.

Cali


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