• Heart risk link to SSRI antidepressants confirmed
    12 replies, posted
[URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21247330[/URL] [QUOTE][B]Some but not all antidepressant drugs known as SSRIs pose a very small but serious heart risk, say researchers.[/B] Citalopram and escitalopram, which fall into this drug group, can trigger a heart rhythm disturbance, a new study in the British Medical Journal shows. UK and US regulators have already warned doctors to be extra careful about which patients they prescribe these medicines to. And they have lowered the maximum recommended dose. The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says people with pre-existing heart conditions should have a heart trace before going on these drugs, to check for a rhythm disturbance known as long QT interval. Experts reassure that complications are very rare and that in most cases the benefits for the patient taking the drug will outweigh the risks. [/QUOTE]
All the more reason to do something about how 80% of the scrips written for these drugs are to people that don't actually need them. They are a godsend for those who's brains are genuinely miswired to the point these things are necessary, and they should always be available for these people, but they're far too dangerous and powerful for your typical "Boo hoo I can't afford an escalade" soccer mom that gets a scrip from an unscrupulous pill-happy family doc.
[QUOTE=TestECull;39421324]80% of the scrips written for these drugs are to people that don't actually need them.[/QUOTE] Source
That's not good news for me. I take Prozac due to depression and benefit from it.
I take escitalopram and I have an irregular heart beat as it is. That's kind of worrying...
[QUOTE=The golden;39421475]I would imagine this falls under the same problem as back when ADHD meds like Ritalin were handed out like candy. Ritalin and its related drugs were fucking nasty shit and they have screwed over countless people permanently for what was essentially no reason.[/QUOTE] "Source: it's like Ritalin" That's not a source
[QUOTE=Zeke129;39421409]Source[/QUOTE] He's right, he just made up his numbers is all. There's people with actual, congenital depression (Such as myself) who essentially have no choice but to use the medication. There's others who have suffered something incredibly traumatizing resulting in depression for extended periods of time (Years or more). . . . Then there's the "I feel sad today ): " group that is determined to believe that there really is a pill to fix problems that don't even exist.
[QUOTE=Exploits;39422350]He's right, he just made up his numbers is all. There's people with actual, congenital depression (Such as myself) who essentially have no choice but to use the medication. There's others who have suffered something incredibly traumatizing resulting in depression for extended periods of time (Years or more). . . . Then there's the "I feel sad today ): " group that is determined to believe that there really is a pill to fix problems that don't even exist.[/QUOTE] I don't think anybody is denying that there is a reasonably prevalent issue with prescription medications being given to those who don't need them But to say that [I]most,[/I] much less 80%, of prescriptions are garbage is a drastic statement to make with citing a source
[QUOTE=ilikecorn;39422245]Really? You don't comment on the article at all, nor do you acknowledge the main argument he's stating, you simply go "oh he used a percentage, lets ignore everything else and HOLY SHIT WE NEED TO KNOW WHERE A NUMBER CAME FROM" He's merely stating an opinion, and using a hyperbole to further show his feeling about the subject. Christ shit like this is annoying. I'd like to know, if you and a buddy are talking, and he says something to the effect of "man that bag weighed a ton", are you the type to say OH SHIT WE NEED TO GO GET A SCALE, I DON'T BELIEVE YOU. If no, i sincerely hope you learn to logically infer when someone is using a hyperbole, and when someone is attempting to use a true statistic. As for the article, it's bound to happen that certain drugs have odd side effects, as their use becomes more wide spread, we enter into cases where the drug hasn't been fully evaluated in those conditions.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=ilikecorn;39422460]It's called a hyperbole. Notice how he's not posting saying OH BUT GUYS I'M TOTALLY RIGHT. That's an indication that he was using a large, made up number, in order further illustrate his point.[/QUOTE] oh my god, he wasn't asking for a source because of the specific number, he was after a source that suggests that a "large, made up number" is remotely accurate. Stop being dumb.
[QUOTE=BlkDucky;39424728]oh my god, he wasn't asking for a source because of the specific number, he was after a source that suggests that a "large, made up number" is remotely accurate. Stop being dumb.[/QUOTE] If what I said wasn't true there wouldn't be so many fucking antidepressant adverts on TV and radio. If there wasn't a HUGE problem with people getting written a scrip for powerful mind-altering drugs to deal with life's typical issues when they really only need some backbone. Getting into a fender bender is not grounds for taking Prozac, yet soccer moms nationwide get scrips for the stuff for that exact type of thing. Is it really 80%? Maybe. I don't know. That number, as already said, is hyperbole. But to assume that it isn't a problem is, to put it bluntly, fucking stupid. It is a problem. If it wasn't a problem we wouldn't see drug companies advertising these pills during primetime TV! The adverts should be saying "Feeling depressed? Talk to your doctor, depression is a serious issue". Instead they say "Feeling sad? GET THIS PILL AND ALL IS FIXED!"
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