Popular Antidepressant Aids Anxious Symptoms In Elderly
U.S. researchers announced on Tuesday that the antidepressant Lexapro seemed to ease anxiety in older adults, but the outcome is "modest" and requires further investigation.
Antidepressants like Lexapro, which contains escitalopram, may be used for elder adults with a general kind of anxiety disorder, a situation that can create muscle tension, insomnia and exhaustion.
Despite the benefits of escitalopram, the findings are slightly weakened from lack of adherence to the drug by some.
"We found improvements not only in anxiety and level of worry but also in functioning," Dr. Eric Lenze of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said to Reuters.
He added that those who received the drug performed their regular activities more effectively. For the majority of people, he said, the drug by itself is not entirely enough.
"Overall the benefits were fairly modest," Lenze said. "It will help some people a lot. Most people will probably need some sort of combination treatment."
The research team did find an unforeseen advantage: the drug aided in controlling blood pressure.
"That suggests there can be some long-term health benefits in treating anxiety in this older age group," Lenze noted.
While the research primarily focused on Lexapro, Lenze anticipates that the benefits would blanket all antidepressants of this type, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs.
Lenze and his colleagues reviewed 177 people 60 or older with general anxiety disorder and who received either Lexapro or a placebo for 12 weeks.
They noted that about 69 percent of patients saw an improvement in their behavior, with another 51 percent saw improved symptoms merely from the placebo. The drug aided in improving anxiety symptoms and social functioning.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), is the most widespread psychiatric disorder in the elderly, and consists of constant anxiety, with other symptoms like muscle tension and fatigue.
The long-term effects of treatment are now being investigated. Additional kinds of therapy, specifically cognitive behavioral therapy, are encouraged for patients.
Forest, which may lose their patent for Lexapro in 2012, contributed the drugs required for the study.
Side effects of the drug include fatigue, sleepiness, sleep disturbance and urinary issues.
"The lack of efficacy of escitalopram in the ITT analysis is consistent with its overall modest efficacy, diminished further by nonadherence.” Lenze told Eureka alert. “Given that patients with anxiety disorders are often poorly adherent to pharmacotherapy; these negative results may more accurately portray the results of treatment in clinical settings.”
"It is important for clinicians to emphasize to their anxious older patients the need for an adequate trial in which to observe any benefits, as well as the expectation and nature of adverse effects. Given the high human and economic burden of GAD, these data should provide impetus to detect and treat this common disorder. Further study is required to assess efficacy and safety over longer treatment durations."
The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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