A medical study in Queensland has shed new light on the impact that some anti-depressants have on a person’s brain.
Researchers at the Queensland Brain Institute tested how a part of the brain responded to chemicals in different anti-depressants.
It was thought drugs like prozac produced new cells in the brain that then improved a person’s mood.
However, testing found this was not the case.

An paper published in January’s Journal of the American Medical Association has the medical community revisiting the use of antidepressants for mild to moderate depression.
“The study came out, and it was actually the compilation of six different studies,” said Dr. Jeffrey Ripperda, MD, of Murphysboro Health Center. “It showed that antidepressants are no better than sugar pills are for mild to moderate depression.”
According to the paper: The context of the study says that antidepressant medications represent the best established treatment for major depressive disorder, but there is little evidence that they have a specific pharmacological effect relative to pill placebo for patients with less severe depression.
This is not the first controversial study done involving antidepressants. Ripperda said that the controversy over the use of antidepressants has been going on for some time.

Tamoxifen – a breast cancer medicine used by millions of women — won’t work when taken with some common antidepressants, a new study says.

Tumors were more than twice as likely to return after two years in women taking antidepressants like Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil, compared with those taking the anti-cancer drug alone, the study showed.

The research by Medco Health Solutions was presented Tuesday at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando.

According to a new study published in the February 2010 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers from the University of Iowa report that escitalopram seems to improve cognitive recovery in stroke patients.

This 12-month study included 129 non-depressed stroke patients who were evaluated at the University of Iowa Stroke Center from July 9, 2003 to October 1, 2007. The study participants were randomly assigned to receive either escitalopram, a placebo pill, or problem solving therapy (PST) within 3 months following their stroke. The researchers found that, after 12 months, the patients who received escitalopram experienced an improvement in verbal and visual memory functions compared with their counterparts. Stroke patients who received escitalopram were also significantly more likely to show improvement in their activities of daily living.

According to a new study scheduled to appear in the February issue of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, women who take SSRI antidepressants may experience delayed lactation after giving birth and may need additional support if they chose to breastfeed.

“The breasts are serotonin-regulated glands,” said study co-author Dr. Nelson Horseman of the University of Cincinnati, which means that “the breasts’ ability to secrete milk at the right time is closely related to the body’s production and regulation of the hormone serotonin.” Commonly used antidepressants such as Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil all belong to a class of drugs called SSRIs, which affect serotonin re-uptake, and might also affect serotonin regulation in the breast.