Posted by chemist on May 18, 2004, at 18:55:37
In reply to Question for Chemist, posted by owenus32 on May 18, 2004, at 15:51:50
> I don't want to make every one anxious because I am but here goes- every now and then someone asks if ad's and meds in general screw up your brain long term and every time no one has a defintive answer. I do hate though when someone says yes but whatever. Why don't they know?
hi there....from what i can tell from posts, personal experience, and literature, the bottom line is that long-term controlled studies have not been done....given the emergence of SSRIs less than 20 years ago - and the onset of second-generation SSRI-combos - it's not surprising. then, you have the latest craze of atypical antipsychotics and anticonvulsants being used for mood disorder (prescribed off-label), so there really are few data from which to draw conclusions. there are a few studies for a few drugs that appear to be conclusive: for instance, see in the 13 May 2004 issue of Nature (v. 429), pp. 126-128, a news feature entitled ``the ups and downs of ecstacy'' (and references contained therein) for what seems to be a pretty strong case for MDA and MDMA actually causing permanent damage. as for all the rest, i am unaware of any data that indicate one way or another. also, many people simply do not take one particular drug for a long time - one might take prozac, then switch to celexa after a year, then go off, then back on and so on - so it is quite difficult to find a large study group with few extra variables (e.g., benzodiazepines, beta-blockers) that might muddy the waters. anyhow, that's my take on it, but again, i stand to be corrected/enlightened...all the best, chemist
poster:chemist
thread:348266
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040515/msgs/348339.html