http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5idJMA3ijPV9hXfLkfw0p-Y5qvE2A

Depression drugs 'little better than placebos': study
5 hours ago

LONDON (AFP) -- Best-selling anti-depressants like Prozac and Seroxat
are barely more effective than placebos in treating most people with
depression, a study led by a British university said Tuesday.

The research, which analysed 47 clinical trials, breaks new ground by
incorporating data not previously released by drug companies which
researchers obtained under US freedom of information laws.

Its findings prompted some academics and mental health campaigners to
question whether people with mild and moderate depression should be
prescribed drugs like Prozac, which has been taken by 40 million
people worldwide.

"The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and
patients taking anti-depressants is not very great," said Professor
Irving Kirsch of Hull University, in northern England, who led the
team.

"This means that depressed people can improve without chemical
treatments.

"Given these results, there seems little reason to prescribe
antidepressant medication to any but the most severely depressed
patients unless alternative treatments have failed to provide a
benefit."

The study, published in the journal PLoS (Public Library of Science)
Medicine, looked at Prozac, Seroxat, Effexor and Serzone and found the
drugs were only better than a placebo for some people with severe
depression.

Kirsch's team said it was one of the most thorough probes into the
impact of new generation anti-depressants or selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

But drug companies strongly questioned the findings.

A spokesman for Eli Lilly, which makes Prozac, said that "extensive
scientific and medical experience" had shown it is "an effective anti-
depressant."

And GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Seroxat, said the study had not
acknowledged the "very positive benefits" of the drugs.

"Their conclusions are at odds with what has been seen in actual
clinical practice," a spokesman said.

"It is widely recognised by experts in the field that studies in
depression are challenging and very difficult to conduct."

One leading academic who has studied why drug companies only publish
some of their data on new drugs said in the wake of the findings they
should be obliged to provide full details.

Doctor Tim Kendall, deputy director of Britain's Royal College of
Psychiatrists research unit, said the study was "fantastically
important."

"I think it's too dangerous to allow drug companies -- where profit is
a key factor -- to be able to withhold data which shows that a drug is
ineffective or harmful," he said.

Alison Cobb, of British mental health charity Mind, hailed the
findings as "a serious challenge to the predominance of drugs in
treating depression."

"Anti-depressants do help many people but by no means all and some
people experience severe side-effects with them," she said.

"Nine out of 10 GPs (general practitioners) say they've been forced to
dish out drugs because they don't have proper access to 'talking
treatments' such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which are
recommended as the first-line treatment for mild to moderate
depression."

Another mental health charity, Sane, warned the findings "could remove
what has been seen as a vital choice for thousands," adding people
should not stop taking their drugs immediately.

As the study was published, the British government published details
of a 170-million-pound (225-million-euro, 335-million dollar)
programme to improve access to counselling and therapy for people with
depression.

Officials say this should see 900,000 more people receiving such
treatments over the next three years.