Wayne
Senior Member
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- Ashland, Oregon
I just watched this segment and found it quite interesting. Starting at about the 6:00 minute mark, a pharmaceutical industry consultant acknowledges that the antidepressant treatment success rate for people with moderate depression is around 14%, and that the success rate for those taking placebo is up to twice as high. This segment also highlights how a pharmaceutical company only has to submit two studies demonstrating the efficacy of a drug vs. placebo to obtain FDA approval, but is allowed to not submit studies that don't support this. Anyway, I found the politics involved in the $11.3B dollar industry to be quite revealing.
I've long thought the depression many pwCFS deal with is primarily a result of an unchecked infection(s) going on in our bodies, and generally unrelated to chemical imbalances in the brain (which I believe is what antidepressants are supposed to be able to correct). It seems that for many of us, various ABX or anti-viral medications and/or herbs could easily have a higher success rate for treating depression than powerful antidepressants based on the unproved hypothesis that a lack of serotonin is usually the underlying cause.
Best, Wayne
Treating Depression: Is there a placebo effect?
[video=youtube;Zihdr36WVi4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zihdr36WVi4[/video]
I've long thought the depression many pwCFS deal with is primarily a result of an unchecked infection(s) going on in our bodies, and generally unrelated to chemical imbalances in the brain (which I believe is what antidepressants are supposed to be able to correct). It seems that for many of us, various ABX or anti-viral medications and/or herbs could easily have a higher success rate for treating depression than powerful antidepressants based on the unproved hypothesis that a lack of serotonin is usually the underlying cause.
Best, Wayne
Treating Depression: Is there a placebo effect?
[video=youtube;Zihdr36WVi4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zihdr36WVi4[/video]