Provocative title, no? The observed increases over the time period 2000-2003 were 49 (53%) and 21 (22%) DDD/1000 beneficiaries/day inNova Scotia and Australia, respectively. Defined Daily Doses (DDDs) This standard measure is set at the average maintenance dose per day of a drug when used for its major indication. It overcomes difficulties in comparing prescriptions of different price, pack size, duration and dose. Use is expressed as the number of DDDs per 1000 concession beneficiaries per day (DDD/1000 beneficiaries/day), which allows comparisons over time and place. This may be due to prescribing antidepressants for conditions other than depression in Novia Scotia. It could .....read more »

Our prospective study does not support the assumption that paroxetine can cause a prolonged PFA-closure (bleeding) time during paroxetine therapy due to a serotonin transporter polymorphism. Old age, use of platelet inhibitors and a history of gastrointestinal bleeding remain the focus for SSRI-induced bleeding complications. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly used antidepressants. From case reports and observational studies it has become clear that treatment with SSRIs can leadto bleeding mostly from the upper gastrointestinal tract (gullet and stomach). But also bruising is frequently complained of. The most likely mechanism is the prevention of serotonin uptake in blood .....read more »

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis shows that at worse antidepressants are not effective for juvenile depression and at best better research might proof this conclusion wrong.Juvenile meaning depression among children and adolescents.The figure above is the forest plot of this systematic review:Forest plot of rate ratios (RR, with 95% CI) of responses to drug or placebo in 30 randomised double-blind placebo-controlled comparisons of rates of ‘response’ to antidepressants v. placebo, with overall pooled RR (1.22; 95% CI 1.15–1.31; blue diamond).Antidepressants of all types showed limited efficacy in juvenile depression, but fluoxetine might be more effective, especially in adolescents. Studies .....read more »

When both SSRIs and NSAIDs are concomitantly used, it would be sufficient to treat 250 patients per year for 1 case of upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract bleeding to be attributed to such combination, and 500 patients per year if SRIs are concomitantly used with antiplatelet drugs.SRIs: SSRIs, including sertraline hydrochloride, fluoxetine hydrochloride, fluvoxamine maleate, paroxetine hydrochloride, citalopram hydrobromide, and escitalopram oxalate; selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), including venlafaxine and duloxetine hydrochloride.NSAIDs: ibuprofen, and naproxen.The authors of this study were the first to point out the dangers of combining SSRIs with NSAIDs in 1999. In the present study they .....read more »

A failed randomized controlled trial of Fluoxetine versus placebo in elderly stroke survivors due to reluctance and subsequent informal discussions by their treating physicians. Also due in part to high community prescribing rates of antidepressants by general practitioners. In a recent research showed that 15% of adults aged over 75 years are in receipt of an antidepressant prescription from their general practitioner, half of them for more than 2 years and many without formal review. So adolescents your not alone. Elderly are not alone as well, in The Netherlands it was hard to find elderly for a study that .....read more »