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News
from NIMH
Maintenance Treatment Prevents Recurrence
in Older Adults with Single-Episode Depressions
People age 70 and older who continued taking the antidepressant
that helped them to initially recover from their first episode of
depression were 60 percent less likely to experience a new episode
of depression over a two-year study period than those who stopped
taking the medication, according to a study funded by the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes
of Health. The study addresses a major question in the treatment
of depression -- when to discontinue medication.
Published in the March 16, 2006 New England Journal of Medicine,
the study showed that long-term treatment (for at least 2 years)
after a patient is symptom-free is effective in preventing future
depressive episodes. "This study demonstrates the benefits
of keeping older patients on an antidepressant long after they become
symptom-free," said NIMH's director Thomas R. Insel, M.D.
The clinical trial tested whether maintenance therapy -- long-term
treatment given to patients to enable them to maintain a symptom-free
or disease-free state -- is effective in preventing future episodes
of depression in patients 70 years and older. It also tested whether
antidepressant medication and psychotherapy were effective, and
whether the extent of patients' medical burden had an impact on
rates of recurrence.
For more information about this study, see the press release available
at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/press/depressionmeds.cfm
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