Common antidepressants suspected of raising
suicide risk among children reduce the risk for adults, Italian scientists
reported on Monday.
The findings that the drugs cut suicide risk by more than 40 percent
among adults and over 50 percent for elderly people should reassure doctors, the
researchers said.
But the study confirmed the drugs seriously raise the suicide risk for
children, Corrado Barbui of the University of Verona and colleagues reported in
the Canadian Medical Journal.
"Data from observational studies should reassure doctors that prescribing
(the drugs) to patients with major depression is safe," they wrote.
"However, children and adolescents should be followed very closely
because of the possibility of increased of risk suicidal thoughts and suicide."
Depression is the leading cause of suicide, which is the third-biggest
killer of children and young adults between the ages of 10 and 24.
The researchers focused on selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs). SSRIs like GlaxoSmithKline's Paxil or paroxetine and Eli Lilly and Co's
Prozac or fluoxetine, both of which are now available generically, are the most
commonly prescribed class of antidepressant.
U.S. and European regulators sent out a series of public health warnings
on use of antidepressants beginning in 2003 after clinical trials showed the
drugs increased the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours in children and
teens.
A 2007 analysis by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found SSRIs
significantly increased suicide risk for adolescents, offered protection for the
elderly but were neutral for adults.
Barbui and his team's review of eight large studies which ncluded more
than 200,000 patients found the same for the young and old but differed when it
came to adults, showing significant protection.
"Our risk estimates were very similar to those obtained by the FDA only
for the elderly and adolescent groups," they wrote.
(Editing by Maggie Fox and David Holmes) Keywords: HEALTH DEPRESSION/
(michael.kahn@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 0823; Reuters Messaging:
michael.kahn.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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