Scientists at the Fisher Center for
Alzheimer's Disease Research at
The Rockefeller University, led by
Paul Greengard, Ph.D., and Jennifer Warner-Schmidt, Ph.D., have shown that anti-inflammatory drugs, which include ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen, reduce the effectiveness of the most widely used class of antidepressant medications, the
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or
SSRIs, taken for depression and
obsessive-compulsive disorder and
anxiety disorders. This surprising discovery, published online this week in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may explain why so many depressed patients taking SSRIs do not respond to antidepressant treatment and suggests that this lack of effectiveness may be preventable. The study may be especially significant in the case of
Alzheimer's disease. Such patients commonly suffer from depression and unless this can be treated successfully, the course of the illness is likely to be more severe. Depression in the elderly is also a
risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease and researchers have suggested that treating depression in the elderly might reduce the risk of developing the disease.
LEARN MORE:
http://www.alzinfo.org/04/articles/fisher-center-scientists-show-anti-inflammatory-drugs-reduce-effectiveness-ssri-antidepressants