14 DAY TRIAL // Patients who take antidepressants after they have suffered a brain injury are more likely than their peers to display higher brain cell production and survival rates, experts show in a new study.
The finding are very surprising, as the link between taking such drugs and the formation of new neurons was never even hinted at before. Thanks to the new investigation, it is now beginning to become clear that this is indeed the case.
Scientists conducted the new work on a group of patients who had been taking antidepressants even before they suffered a brain injury. Another group, featuring individuals that were healthy before their accidents, was established for control.
This research is the direct result of observations carried out by surgeons. They noticed that some of their patients were doing a lot better than others, but could not figure exactly why. In the end, the healthcare experts figured out that the only thing separating the two groups was antidepressant medication use.
As such, the new tests were developed in such a way so as to test whether the correlation is actually there. Beforehand, experts had observed that using medication against depression also tended to boost memory, but thought little of that correlation, as it was not too statistically significant.
“We saw these patients improving in multiple ways – their depression was improved, but so were their memory and cognitive functioning,” explains University of Rochester Medical Center associate professor of neurosurgery and chief of neurosurgery Jason Huang, MD.
“It’s exciting that the study involves a drug that is already safe and approved by FDA and is used clinically. If we could add a medication to the treatment regimen – even a slight improvement would be a big gain for these patients,” Huang explains.
“It’s our hope that the work will ultimately make a difference in patient care,” the expert goes on to say. He and his colleagues published the full details of their work in a recent online issue of the esteemed medical Journal of Neurotrauma, PsychCentral reports.
The new study was also conducted on mice, as the animal models have certain neural pathways that are very similar to our own, and the one underlying the action of antidepressants is one of them.