Call for more anxiety drugs

AT LEAST a million more Britons should be put on antidepressants, the authors of the largest ever review of the drugs conclude today.

The research, led by Oxford University and published in The Lancet, examined 522 trials involving 21 types of medication over almost four decades.

All were found to be effective, yet the study authors warned that just one in six patients suffering from depression was receiving treatment.

Researchers said too many GPS were “squeamish” about offering medication for depression, when they would not hesitate to ensure patients received treatment for cancer or heart disease.

The findings also constitute the first league tables comparing different antidepressants. Some of the best-known, such as Prozac and citalopram, the most widely prescribed drug, were found to be among the least effective.

Less well-known drugs, such as amitriptyline and mirtazapine, were found to show far greater effect in reducing symptoms of depression. Scientists

urged GPS to consider the new evidence, with a “shift” towards the drugs shown to be most effective after the trials, which involved almost 120,000 patients, most of whom had moderate to severe depression. The UK has the fourth-highest level of antidepressant prescriptions in the West, with the number having tripled since 2000.

Prof John Geddes, the head of psychiatry at the University of Oxford, said: “The access to treatment is really bad. Only about one in six people with depression receives effective treatment in high-income countries. If you recognise that people are suffering from a disorder you should expect them to get access to effective treatment,” he said. “What would we think if [patients with] high blood pressure or cancer weren’t getting access to available treatment? I think we do tend to be a bit squeamish about it.”

Dr Andrea Cipriani, the lead author, said he was “very excited” about the findings, which he said provided a “final answer” to controversy over the effectiveness of the drugs.

Prof Helen Stokes-lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPS, said that the findings should reassure patients, but that doctors should still try to offer talking therapies.