_See also:_ REFERENCE Medical experts have struggled with this question at least since 1990 when Harvard researchers reported that six people developed suicidal feelings soon after taking Prozac (fluoxetine).Was the first of the now widely prescribed serotonin drugs to ease depression.Serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, such medications ease the problems of depression, anxiety, and obsessivepulsive behavior by decreasing the activity of a brain chemical known to affect moods.Despite the 1990 reports, doctors had, by 2002, begun prescribing these drugs for children and adolescents.Food and Drug Administration had not granted specific approval for this, but 'off-label' prescribing is amon and accepted practice," notes an article in the July issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter.2003, the FDA went ahead and approved Prozac for treating depression in people 18 years and younger.Since then, a variety of SSRIs have been cleared for treating major depression, anxiety, and obsessivepulsive disorder for adults.2003, reports of young usersmitting or attempting suicide had be too numerous to ignore.The following year, the FDA reported the results of 24 tests involving 11 antidepressants and almost 4,500 children and adolescents.Agency concluded that the drugs involved a doubling of the risk for suicidal behavior.Percent of young people taking antidepressants,pared with 2 percent of those taking dummy pills, "were found to have definitely or possibly thought about killing themselves or taken actions that might have led to suicide," according to the Harvard review.The happy ending to this story is that no one in any of the studies actuallymitted suicide.BLACK-BOX WARNINGS By 2004, the FDA ordered so called black-box warnings the most serious alerts added to all labels on antidepressant medications.States that antidepressants raise the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in children and adolescents.That action did not end the controversy.2005, the American Medical Association adopted a resolution saying that antidepressants had not been proven to raise the number ofpleted suicides in people 18 years and younger, and that children "should not be denied possibly life-saving medication on the basis of equivocal evidence.With the ball back in its court, the FDA asked drugmakers to provide information from medical trials of suicidal behavior and thinking among adults treated with antidepressants.Results, which involved more than 100,000 adults, were announced in 2006.Data revealed a slightly higher risk for suicidal thinking and behavior in people up to age 25.Differences were found at ages 25 to 30.Slightly decreased risk was found for those 30 years and older, and that risk declined further after age 65.May of this year, FDA advisers rmended adding a postscript to the black-box warning, calling attention to the protective effect of antidepressants for older people and to the suicide risk of untreated mental illness.About the same time, an analysis of more than 5,000 patients age 19 and younger concluded that antidepressants can be effective for treating not only major depression but anxieties and obsessivepulsive disorders.Were greatest for anxiety and smallest for depression.Researchers, from the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, estimated that an antidepressant would be helpful for one out of every three young patients treated for anxiety, one of every six for obsessivepulsive behavior, and one of every 10, or 10 percent, of youngsters with major depression.Appeared in the April 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.This analysis also found an age difference.The drugs helped only adolescents, those more than 12 years old.Alone, was effective for those 12 years and younger.Prozac is the sole drug approved by the FDA for treating depressed children.Another study, reported last year in the Archives of General Psychiatry, also found an age difference.Of 263 patients hospitalized for depression who attempted ormitted suicide was matched with hospitalized depressed patients who were not suicidal.Of antidepressants was not moremon among those 19 and older who became suicidal than among those who did not.Of patients 18 years and younger who attempted suicide, 46 percent had taken antidepressantspared with 36 percent who did not.Three of eight young people who died by suicide had taken antidepressants.Patients who attempted orpleted suicides were not more likely to have taken SSRIs, except for Zoloft.They were more likely to be taking the newer antidepressant Effexor (venlafaxine) or one of the older drugs known as tricyclic antidepressants.DECREASING THE RISK Some people argue that any risk of suicide cannot possibly justify treating children with antidepressants.The authors of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic report conclude, "The strength of the evidence presented here supports the cautious and well-monitored use of antidepressants.The Harvard Mental Health Letter agrees.Best way to get the benefit while decreasing the risk, it says, is careful monitoring and regular follow-up by a doctor.Should contact the doctor, the article warns, if a child shows a noticeable shift in behavior: "Examples are a change in appetite, sleep, or energy, bing anxious, irritable, hostile, or socially withdrawn, or revealing uncharacteristic thoughts or preoccupations.Danger is greatest in the first few weeks after starting a new medication or changing the dose.Mental disorders like depression and anxiety are serious risk factors for suicide.For many adults and children, antidepressants can make a vital contribution to reducing suicide risk," the Harvard review article concludes.Taking advantage of the benefits of antidepressants may ultimately put children and adolescents at a higher risk for suicide._Adapted from materials provided by _.Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report?One of the following formats: APA MLA RELATED STORIES (Dec.2006) Suicidal individuals taking antidepressant medications appear to have an increased risk of additional suicide attempts, but a reduced risk of dying from suicide or any other cause, according to a .> (Feb. 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(Jul.2007) Antidepressants lower the risk of suicide attempt in adults with depression, according to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.Also found that the lower risk held .> (Nov.2004) New users of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs, a type of antidepressant) have an increased risk of being admitted to the hospital for abnormal bleeding, according to an article in the .> (Apr.2007) Depression may be an early symptom of Parkinson's disease, according to recent .> (Jun.2006) A just published UCLA study suggests that the use of antidepressants to treat depression has saved thousands of lives.Modeling of probable suicide rates from 1988 to 2002, based on .> (Aug.2004) A new study from the Johns Hopkins Childrens Center and 12 other medical centers shows the most effective treatment for adolescents with major depressive disorder is abination of .> (Feb.2005) Challenging recent claims linking antidepressant use to suicidal behavior, a new UCLA study shows that American suicide rates have dropped steadily since the introduction of Prozac and other .> _Number of stories in archives: 44,032_ _Find with keyword(s):_ Enter a keyword or phrase to search ScienceDaily's archives for related news topics, the latest news stories, reference articles, science videos, images, and books.JUST IN: The first in a new generation of gene microarrays,puter chips that chemically or electrically express DNA, can predict how a person's body will.. _.From _ __ IN OTHER NEWS . __ _.From _ Get the latest science news with our free email newsletters, updated daily and weekly.View hourly updated newsfeeds in your RSS reader: FEEDBACK _.We want to hear from you!Read more Amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium (amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium) tablet, film coated [lek pharmaceuticals inc.]
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