Our systematic review in BMC Psychiatry concluded that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs ) compared with placebo significantly increase the risk of serious adverse events ( SAEs ) in patients with major depression and the potential beneficial effects of SSRIs seem to be outweighed by the harms .
In their post-hoc analysis of our data , they reported that SSRIs only increase the risk of SAEs in elderly and seems safe for non-elderly patients .
A double-blind placebo-controlled study of fluvoxamine and imipramine in out-patients with primary depression.
1 A double-blind placebo-controlled study of fluvoxamine and imipramine was performed in a group of depressed patients . Twenty-two patients received fluvoxamine ( mean dose 101 mg/day ) , 25 received imipramine ( mean dose 127 mg/day ) and 22 received placebo . 2 Apart from an increase in the SGOT and SGPT values of four imipramine patients , no statistically significant changes in haematology or urinalysis were judged to be medically relevant . Fluvoxamine exhibited fewer anticholinergic side effects than imipramine . 3 Both fluvoxamine treated patients and imipramine-treated patients exhibited a statistically significant improvement at the end of the 28-day treatment period with respect to the placebo patients , as measured using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression , and the Clinical Global Impression Scale . Evaluations of the results of the Beck Depression Inventory and the Profile of Mood States revealed a statistically significant improvement for imipramine patients with respect to placebo at week 4 , but not for fluvoxamine patients . It is postulated on the basis of quantitative pharmaco-EEG findings , that the slight superiority of imipramine over fluvoxamine was due to underdosing of the latter
Our systematic review in BMC Psychiatry concluded that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs ) compared with placebo significantly increase the risk of serious adverse events ( SAEs ) in patients with major depression and the potential beneficial effects of SSRIs seem to be outweighed by the harms .
In their post-hoc analysis of our data , they reported that SSRIs only increase the risk of SAEs in elderly and seems safe for non-elderly patients .