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"It is true, and thus the question of whether it is sad or happy has no meaning whatever."
Bernhard Schlink



Science is best when discussed: leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments!!



Monday, June 07, 2004

Happy Pills 

Antidepressants have been in the news a lot lately. A certain drug company suppressed evidence that a certain antidepressant does more harm than good for kids. Not a big surprise...we all know how sleazy these guys are. Not to mention the fact that psychiatric meds are overprescribed all over the place these days, especially to kids (for whom they're really not intended or particularly well regulated/tested). Another major problem is that how antidepressants work, in general and in specific, are not very well understood, compared to many other drugs.
Released today, a UPenn group has found that many antidepressants' activities are tied to norepinepharine (NE), aka adrenaline, despite most having apparent primary effects on Seratonin. This research could be a bloody revolution, and it looks valid from here (i.e., Penn's a good facility and PNAS is a highly regarded journal).

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