Another interesting article from the Daily Mail today. It's sad to say as well as being a stigma against mental illness, there is also one about taking anti-depresants, why this should be I have no idea but as I see it taking anti-depressant drugs is no different from taking thyroxine for thyroid disease or insulin for diabetes. Anti-depressants are very valuable medications and DO help patients in recovery and now further research is showing how they could help stroke patients, this is to be welcomed and with people living longer the numbers of stroke patients will increase, for too long too strokes have been labelled a condition associated with elderly patients, however strokes affect any age group.
There are two types of stokes, also known as Cardio Vasular Accidents or CVA for short. The kind caused where a thrombus, a clot, lodges in a blood vessel in the brain or due to a bleed, hemorrhage, both types deprive areas of the brain from oxygen, which is carried in the blood. Once nerve tissue in the brain is deprived of oxygen it dies. So if anti-depressants are shown to have benefit in regenerating nerve tissue, this research is to be welcomed.
Anti-depressants could help stroke patients recover more quickly by 'rebuilding' the brain
- Drugs could promote the growth of new nerve cells in the brain or protect other cells damaged by stroke
- And by preventing depression, they may encourage more patients to be physically active
The drugs could reduce dependence, physical disability, depression and anxiety in the first year after a stroke, according to the study published by the Cochrane Library.
They could also promote the growth of new nerve cells in the brain or protect other cells damaged by stroke, the authors suggest.
The drugs could promote the growth of new nerve cells in the brain or protect other cells damaged by stroke
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh examined 52 studies concerning selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Professor Gillian Mead, professor of stroke and elderly care medicine at the university, said: 'Anti-depressants have been successfully used for many years to relieve depression.
'However, it now appears that they also have effects on the brain that may help patients make a better recovery from the physical effects of stroke.
'The results of this meta-analysis are extremely promising. We do not yet fully understand how anti-depressants could boost recovery after stroke, but it may be because they promote the growth of new nerve cells in the brain, or protect cells damaged by stroke.'
She added that by preventing depression, the drugs may help patients to be more physically active which is known to aid overall recovery.
'We now need to carry out a number of much larger clinical trials in order to establish exactly if, how and to what extent antidepressants can help stroke survivors recover.'
Commenting on the research, Dr Dale Webb, director of research and information at the Stroke Association, said: 'There are now over a million people living in the UK with the disabling effects of stroke.
'With death rates from stroke declining, it’s increasingly important to find new treatments to help survivors make their best possible recovery.
'The results of this meta-analysis are very encouraging and highlight the need for further clinical research trials.
'If these trials are positive, antidepressants could reduce the disabling effects of stroke in tens of thousands of patients every year.
'However, we are a long way off this type of treatment being offered to stroke patients to reduce the physical effects of the condition. We look forward to the results of further research.'
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