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Here is a summary of article I thought you might be interested in. Antidepressants’ benefit is clinically meaningless compared to a placebo says Harvard researcher The supposed benefit of prescription antidepressants is clinically meaningless when compared to a placebo notes Irving Kirsch, PhD from Harvard Medical School. When analyzing data from both published and unpublished studies of prescription antidepressants, Irving Kirsch found a difference between antidepressants and a placebo were only 1.8 points on the Hamilton Depression Scale. “The [Hamilton Depression Scale] is a 17-item scale on which people can score from 0 to 53 points, depending on how depressed they are,” Kirsh writes. “A six-point [6-point] difference can be obtained just by changes in sleep patterns, with no change in any other symptom of depression.” “The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which drafts treatment guidelines for the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, has established a three-point difference [3-point difference] between drug and placebo on the [Hamilton Depression Scale] as a criterion of clinical significance. “Thus, when published and unpublished data are combined, they fail to show a clinically significant advantage for antidepressant medication over inert placebo.” Here is the link to the entire article. http://www.fatnews.com/index.php/5920

Antidepressants’ benefit is clinically meaningless compared to a placebo says Harvard researcher

The supposed benefit of prescription antidepressants is clinically meaningless when compared to a placebo notes Irving Kirsch, PhD from Harvard Medical School.

When analyzing data from both published and unpublished studies of prescription antidepressants, Irving Kirsch found a difference between antidepressants and a placebo were only 1.8 points on the Hamilton Depression Scale.

“The [Hamilton Depression Scale] is a 17-item scale on which people can score from 0 to 53 points, depending on how depressed they are,” Kirsh writes.

“A six-point [6-point] difference can be obtained just by changes in sleep patterns, with no change in any other symptom of depression.”

“The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which drafts treatment guidelines for the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, has established a three-point difference [3-point difference] between drug and placebo on the [Hamilton Depression Scale] as a criterion of clinical significance.

“Thus, when published and unpublished data are combined, they fail to show a clinically significant advantage for antidepressant medication over inert placebo.”

Posted by: Admin2 on Aug 14, 2016 - 11:01 am

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Antidepressants’ benefit is clinically meaningless compared to a placebo says Harvard researcher