Major depression is a highly prevalent, frequently debilitating illness that too often fails to respond to currently available treatments
such as antidepressant medication.
Overall, the studies suggested that the herb was more effective than a placebo and just as
effective as antidepressants such as Prozac yet came with fewer side effects.
In addition to boosting energy and sexual health, maca - especially the black variety - can also improve memory and learning, and it
acts as an antidepressant as well.
A recent study at Duke University Medical Center found that regular exercise was roughly as effective
as antidepressants in reducing the symptoms of depressed patients.
One study in Brain Behavior and Immunity showed a dramatic 20 percent reduction in anxiety among medical students taking omega - 3, while past research has shown omega - 3 fats work just as
well as antidepressants in preventing the signs of depression, but without any of the side effects.
Some studies have shown that drugs such
as the antidepressant Prozac and birth control pills that contaminate wastewater can harm fish, amphibians and other aquatic life.
It was originally investigated in 1995 by pharmacologist Franco Borsini and a team of researchers at Boehringer Ingelheim Italia in Milan
as an antidepressant because of its ability to regulate neurotransmitters — the brain's chemical - signaling molecules.
Lobelia also acts
as an antidepressant by hindering cell proliferation in the hippocampus and inducing dopamine release in the brain.
Tefina, which is meant to be squirted up the nostrils before a «planned sexual event,» is a testosterone - based gel whereas Sprout's drug, flibanserin,
started as an antidepressant.
After a brief lag, the drug is now being prescribed at the rate of at least 10,000 scripts a day, outpacing such famous quick
starters as the antidepressant Prozac (which went on to become one of the biggest - selling drugs in America) and the baldness remedy Rogaine (which has been something of a disappointment after its initial blaze of popularity).
Though she entered the hospital diagnosed with severe, major biological depression, the admitting psychiatrist assured us that she could expect to leave within two to three
weeks as antidepressant medications took effect.
Similar drugs are used
clinically as antidepressants, the authors write, and their effects on tumors in clinical settings are being investigated.
When she and three female and four male researchers investigated this disconnect by performing the experiments, they discovered that the ketamine acted
as an antidepressant only when it was administered by men.
Ketamine was developed as an anesthetic, but is better known publicly for its abuse as the party drug Special K. Researchers are now seeking alternatives because ketamine can produce side effects that include hallucinations and the potential for abuse — limiting its
utility as an antidepressant.
The drug was initially
developed as an antidepressant, and although it failed to alter mood in trials, researchers noticed it seemed to be helping women with low sex drives.
But as a publication with the involvement of the University of Bern has shown, sport and physical activity partially encounter the same neurophysiological
changes as antidepressants.
The researchers were inspired to develop the compound after previous University of Bath research showed that a combination of two existing drugs, buprenorphine and naltrexone, had
potential as an antidepressant.
Studies have shown that for some patients, talking with a therapist can be just as
successful as antidepressants (with roughly 50 % of subjects showing substantial improvement).
In one early «90s study involving elderly depressed patients, a type of folate known as 5 - methyltetrahydrofolate (5 - MTHF) was found to be roughly as effective
as the antidepressant trazodone.
Or they have a depressive disorder — these drugs were used in the
1950s as antidepressants before we had any real antidepressants.
A 6 - week, double - blind study on orally administered SAMe found that SAMe was about as effective
as the antidepressant imipramine for the treatment of mild depression.
In fact, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), specifically Cognitive Therapy has been shown to be as effective
as antidepressants without the side effects.
The studies focused on motor behavior, not mood disorders, but the team found that certain classes of psychotropic drugs,
such as the antidepressants known as monoamine oxidase inhibitors, had recognizable, characteristic effects on behavior.
The notorious party drug may
act as an antidepressant by blocking neural bursts in a little - understood brain region that may drive depression
Research has shown that moderate exercise can be just as effective
as an antidepressant because it releases natural feel - good chemicals in the brain.
«These results suggest that some people are more responsive to the intention to treat their depression, and may do better if psychotherapies or cognitive therapies that enhance the clinician - patient relationship are incorporated into their care as well
as antidepressant medications,» he says.
«It seems to have similar
effects as an antidepressant and antianxiety drug,» says Arieh Moussaieff, a pharmacologist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who led the study.
And up to half of participants enrolled in clinical trials to treat PTSD fail to respond to therapies including serotonin - reuptake inhibitors — a class of drugs often
used as antidepressants — and cognitive behavioural therapy.