Scroll Up
Scroll Down
Play Play Play Play
Unregistered User
Click here if this is not your Personal Edition
 
Contact Us | Free E-Mail Updates | Journals | Register a colleague
 
 
Geriatrics
 
   
 
SEARCH   
Doctor's Guide Free CME
Medline
Congress Resource Centre
 

 EXPLORE :
   Most Read News
 All News  All News
 All Webcasts / CME  All Webcasts / CME
 All Cases  All Cases
 Congress Resource Centre  Congress Resource Centre
 All Medical Resources  All Medical Resources
 Medical  My Personal Edition



Warning | Privacy

 

 
 Recent news - Geriatrics
    Hypertension, Markers of Inflammation In the Blood More Common in Offspring of Parents With AD - (DGNews)
    Addition of Ezetimibe Helps More Elderly Achieve LDL Cholesterol Goal Than Uptitration of Atorvastatin: Presented at CCC - (DGDispatch)
    African American Race Not a Factor in Decision to Undergo First-Time Colorectal Cancer Screening in Elderly Men: Presented at ACG - (DGDispatch)
    Ranibizumab Can Help Patients With Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Macular Oedema Regain Vision: Presented at AAO-PAAO - (DGDispatch)
    Rifaximin Alleviates Symptoms Due to Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth: Presented at ACG - (DGDispatch)

    News archive

     Recent webcasts/CME - Geriatrics

    Webcasts/CME archive

     Recent cases - Geriatrics
      Multiorgan Paradoxical Embolism Consequent to Acute Pulmonary Thromboembolism with Patent Foramen Ovale: A Case Report
      Rectal Mucosal Prolapse Syndrome as an Unusual Gastrointestinal Manifestation of Sjogren's Syndrome: A Case Report
      Liposarcoma of the Colon Presenting as an Endoluminal Mass
      A Woman with a Swollen Neck
      A 72-Year-Old Man with a Rapidly Progressive Sepsis Caused by a Rare But Life-Threatening Infection

      Cases archive
        




      my personal edition > geriatrics > news
      divider

        E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague

      DGDispatch


      Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors Don't Change Mood and Personality in Healthy Elderly: Presented at AAGP

      By Bonnie Darves

      HONOLULU, HA -- March 5, 2003 -- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI s) do not appear to significant change measures of mood and personality in healthy elderly patients.

      The findings were presented here March 3rd at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

      The results are promising, researchers said, because of the widely cited concerns that SSRIs can alter emotions and personality function -- causing increased apathy and affective blunting, as well as potentially dangerous behavior such as suicidal tendency.

      "This has been a concern about SSRI treatment, so we wanted to evaluate effects on healthy elderly patients," said lead researcher Patricia Furlan, PhD, of the Philadelphia VA Medical Center in Pennsylvania, United States.

      In the double-blind study, researchers assessed the effects of SSRIs treatment on elderly volunteers between the ages of 65 and 84.

      After a week of observation, 30 patients received either 10 to 40 mg daily of paroxetine, or 50 to 150 mg of sertraline, for 3 weeks. Nineteen patients were given placebo. The patients who took SSRIs were analyzed together as a single group.

      While SSRI treatment in the treatment group significantly reduced negative affect compared to placebo (f=8.35, p=0.004), positive affect remained unchanged.

      "We didn't find a significant alteration in the positive affect in the SSRI group, even after controlling for events on a daily basis," Dr. Furlan said.

      She noted that the small sample size was a limitation of the study, and suggested that more studies should be conducted to determine whether similar results would occur in a larger population.

      This study was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant and by an unrestricted grant from Pfizer, Inc.


      [Study title: SSRIs Alter Negative, But Not Positive, Affect In Healthy Elderly Volunteers]



      E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague   To print, use this version






      All contents Copyright (c) 1995-2009 Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.



      The NTK initiative. Physicians helping physicians identify Need-To-Know science
         Feedback
      Please rate this article: Strongly DISAGREE...Strongly AGREE NTK logo
      Question 1 - Physicians need to become aware of this information as soon as possible. Question 2 - This information is likely to have an impact on the way physicians practice medicine.
      1
      2
      3
      4
      5
      6
      7
      Send