Posted by zeugma on May 2, 2006, at 17:34:43
In reply to Re: Animal models of psychiatric illness » zeugma, posted by linkadge on May 2, 2006, at 16:09:31
Another big flaw I see is that we don't test the drugs on animals for long enough. So a drug can keep an animal swimming a little longer in the short term, but how do we know that effect will last into the long term.>>
the FST is a model of AD action that gained credibilty because AD's demonstrated potency only after a day or two of administration. a day of a rat's life is about two weeks of a human's, so it was taken as providing convergent evidence considering it often takes two weeks to manifest an AD response in a human. there are longer term models as well. the problem is that the models are only as good as the theories behind them (very few human depressives have had their olfactory bulbs removed, yet this is considered a model of depression in the rat).
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I'm not saying SSRI's don't work for certain people, I just don't think they have a terrably profound antidepressant effect overall.>>I agree. The disorder they seem most effective for is OCD. dapoxetine, Lilly's new SSRI, is going to be marketed for premature ejaculation, and it may prove more efficacious for that indication than for any mood disorder. Which is frustrating, to say the least.
Since we really have no clues as to the underlying disorder in each person's case, doctors use SSRI's as the most innocuous choice, and the one that saves the labor of diagnosis. I wish more thought went into diagnosis, myself, but that study of 'teenage pre-psychotics' shows me where diagnostic skills go- into making money for pharma. It makes me despair. It really does.
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I don't want to say cause I don't really know, but I have suspicion that there are a lot of good antidepressants like amineptine that get pulled because they have abuse potential, even though they *may* be arguably more reliable, fast acting, and robust.>>I would be curious to know why amineptine is a more effective AD than Ritalin, if it is. Just like I am curious as to why atomoxetine is less of an AD than desipramine, if it really is.
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:638491
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060429/msgs/639359.html