The problem is that there is also a high rate of side effects (as
well as main effects) reported with placebos.
Therefore, the only way to assess the frequency of side effects
that are attributable to the drug itself is with a double blind
study.
At 10:54 AM -0400 9/3/04, Robert Grossman wrote:
Sandra Price wrote:
The current issue of Consumers' Report has an article based on a survey
of readers and their treatments for anxiety and depression. Many of you
will remember a similar effort done with Martin Seligman several years
ago. There were about 3000 respondents this time. It might be the
basis for discussion on all sorts of matters.
The most dramatic finding I saw was the report of the percentage of patients reporting sexual side effects and weight gain. In most of the literature from the drug companies they report very low levels of side effect-1-11% (http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/fluoxetine_ad.htm). This actual survey of people taking the medication gets reports in the 40-50% range for sexual side effects and 15-20% for weight gain. BRIAN E. MOORE and ANTHONY J. ROTHSCHILD report studies showing sexual side effects as high as 75% in their article Treatment of Antidepressant-Induced Sexual Dysfunction (http://www.hosppract.com/issues/1999/01/moore.htm). The higher numbers fit my clinical experience and once again suggests that the reporting systems of the drug companies dramatically underestimates the potential problems with their products. It reminds me of the time when I did my clinical internship and physicians repeatedly told patients that the sexual side effects they were experiencing were just part of their mental disorder and not at all related to the medication because the drug companies were not reporting this as a significant side effect. It took twenty or thirty years for this to be corrected. Talk about iatrogenic contributions to losing touch with reality.
--
* PAUL K.
BRANDON
[EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* Psychology Dept Minnesota State University *
* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 *
* http://www.mnsu.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html *
* Psychology Dept Minnesota State University *
* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 *
* http://www.mnsu.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html *
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