Many studies document the benefit of augmented antidepressant therapy, but few have tested it in the elderly. A new trial reported in the current American Journal of Psychiatry offered a second antidepressant to patients over age 70 who did not respond well to initial treatment with paroxetine (Paxil). About half who took the second drug recovered (and two-thirds of those so treated after a relapse).
An editorial accompanying the study report observes that over a third of patients in the study were either unwilling or unable to take the second drug, which are often contraindicated in light of coexisting medical conditions. Because of medical comorbidities, it laments, “our hands are tied“ in caring for this population.
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“Remarkably“, the editorial says, augmented antidepressant treatment appears to work just as well among elderly patients in the new trial as it did among younger adults in the recently concluded STAR*D study.
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What do expert groups advise about treatment of depression in older adults with comorbidities?
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Posted by Cranky Aged Mama
