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Thursday, March 8, 2007
More effective medicines with fewer side effects are in the development
pipeline and better understanding of the various causes of depression
is improving treatment, according to a report issued today by the Association
of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).
The report highlights research into brain chemistry in depression and the
interaction of brain structures involved, thus broadening the scope for
development of new treatments to target new nerve receptors and produce
potentially fewer side-effects. Current anti-depressants often take several
weeks to take effect and much research is focused on developing medicines
that work more rapidly.
Serious depression is a complex condition, with causes as much psychological
and social as medical, and tackling it demands a range of approaches, including
antidepressant medicines, psychological treatment, self-help, support and lifestyle
changes. Target Depression states that it is becoming increasingly accepted that
depression is too broad for one treatment to be effective in all cases.
“There remains a significant unmet need for medicines to treat depression
and research is broadening to explore the complicated mechanisms of the disease.
Fundamental work being done now will result in medicines that can hit their target
more effectively in the future,” said ABPI Medical Director, Dr Richard Tiner.
“The benefits of psychological interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy,
are also becoming better appreciated and medicines are most effective when placed alongside a
package of care that fully takes the psychological and social elements of the condition into
account.”
It is estimated that one in five people will experience depression at some point in their
life and up to two million people in the UK are diagnosed with a depressive illness at any one
time – making it the most prevalent of all mental health conditions. It is also under-reported
and under-treated – a survey in 2000(1) showed that over a third of those with depression
did not consult their GP and less than half were getting any kind of treatment.
Target Depression reports that the condition can be debilitating and is responsible for 110 million lost
working days a year and, aside from the incalculable impact on quality of personal life, carries a
significant suicide risk. It is estimated that the total cost to society of the condition in adults in
England alone runs to £9 billion a year.
Target Depression has been written by well-respected health writer Dr Stephen Bartlett. It can be found on
the ABPI website or by
e-mail. Copies are free.
For further information, please contact:
Crispin Slee 020 7747 1410 (office)
Roz Britton-Elliott 020 7747 1441 (office)
1Psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households, 2000 - Office of National
Statistics on behalf of Department of Health, the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales.
London, HMSO, 2001, Singleton N, Bumpstead R, O’Brien M et al.
A copy of Target Depression is attached to this press release. It is a completely new edition of one of
18 guides charting the pharmaceutical industry’s progress in major disease areas. Copies of the other
guides, also free, are available from the address above. Those still in print include: Target Heart
Disease, Target Leukaemia, Target Pain, Target Cancer, Target Crohn’s & Colitis, Target Osteoporosis,
Target Rheumatoid Arthritis, Target Stroke, Target Migraine, Target Prostate, Target Alzheimer’s,
Target Schizophrenia, Target Skin, Target COPD, Target Diabetes and Target Breast Cancer.
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