Antidepressant medication effects

Antidepressant medication effects

Introduction

The role of antidepressant medication and how it works

Antidepressant are mostly used by those with depression, it is prescribed to people with conditions including chronic pain syndrome, eating disoders,substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorders.one among every ten people with age over 12 is believed to be using this medication in US. Though medication of antidepressant is seen as useful since it is in one way effective and useful, it has side effects which leave those using them in confusion.

This results to great threat as far as community public health is concerned, the people get very clear information about how they are used from their doctors they are taken orally, for instance the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor are responsible in binding serotonin transporter i.e. in brain a molecule regulating serotonin,this prevents the neurons from absorbing the serotonin and it builds up serotonin outside the neuron. Generally it is very interesting how they work they ensure balance of serotonin in the brain this makes it to be more concentrated in the outside part of the neuron

Serotonin transporter is found in gut and blood platelets, physicians are more concerned and interested its effect and the harm it causes they forget how it works in human body.

1. Moderately effective during treatment

The ability of the antidepressants to heal people suffering from depression is not pleasing; upon starting the medication it is thought to be useful and effective in the first 6-8weeks. These antidepressants are more effective as compared to placebo-a sugar pill which has no the chemicals contained in antidepressant. The pushback of brain increase as one continues to use depressants, leading to the physicians advising patients to increase dose or use other strong medication since they are not are that this results from brain pushing back something they fail to appreciate.

1. Discontinuation of using antidepressant medication increase the risk of relapse

Resulting from brain pushing back as a result of discontinued use of antidepressants imagine the brain here works in analogue way as a spring is compressed to a wall by a finger and withdrawing your figure the spring turns and the same happens when withdraw using the drug before the brain comes to normal state as spring settles later.

• Antidepressants cause neural damage

They lead to death of neurons in rodents and also can result to repetitive movements in human being Department of psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, McMaster University,Hamilton, ON,Canada. They destroy the structure of the Neuron this is resulting to people having Parkinsonian symptoms and another syndrome called dyskinesia which has symptoms of repetitive movement of body parts (Romeoet al, 654). It does not happen to those taking antipsychotic medication as perceived by physicians.

1. Increases the risk of breast cancer

According to Rooseet al (234), use of antidepressants is believed to increase the breast cancer and protect against brain cancer researches shows the possibility of antidepressants increasing cancer outside brain is higher like the breast cancer, the ability of neuron killing makes the antidepressants more helpful in treating against brain cancer this is under research.

1. Antidepressant leads to cognitive decline

Neurons are very important they are required in brain functioning and once they are killed by the anti-depressant may lead to poor cognition may impairlearning, as it was done in rodents this can happen to human being too. It has also resulted to impair driving and can result to accidents and people should know this and avoid driving while under such medication (Rooseet al, 234).Using it for long time, leads to mild cognitive impairment increasing probability of risk.

1. Lead to impaired gastroinstinal functioning

Using antidepressant increases or lower the levels of serotonin in the intestinal lining and can cause a syndrome called irritable bowel syndrome which has the following side effects headache, indigestion and pain among others.

• Sexual dysfunction

Thy are having effects on sperm quantity e.g. Effexor ,Prozac increase their risk ,it is evident that antidepressants also interferes with romantic love, whileothers have effected on sperm shape ,structure and volume (Wanget al, 764).

• May lead to developmental problems

It is mostly given to expectant mothers, SSRIs through placenta and in milk is passed to the foetusand has negative impact on neonatal developmentmay result to giving birth to underweight babies or premature birth (Wanget al, 730). Use of antidepressant medication can also increase pulmonary hypertension in babies and crying and convulsion as well as resulting to an increase respiratory disaster causing death of foetus.

1. Antidepressant may lead to abnormal bleeding and stroke

Platelets are involved in clotting in case of bleeding ,now those taking antidepressants ant SSRIs are prone to bleeding  problems frequently have cases of raptured vessels in brain causing stroketransporting ,it increaseswhen SSRIs are used with other medication that lowers clotting like ibuprofen.

1. Increased death of older people

Aged people are weak and associated with cardiovascular problems use of antidepressants makes this risk worse according to the British journal of Psychiatry,Archives of Internal Medicine,Plos Oneby different research groups (Wanget al, 678).

1. Antidepressant has negative effects on old people

There are increase of falling and bone fracture,SSRI lead to high rate of conducting hypernatremia having low sodium level in plasma its symptoms are headache ,muscle cramps, nausea if serious can lead to coma and death (Wanget al, 679).

Recommendation

As shown above the antidepressant medication has got several negative impacts on the patients and the following is recommended.

It is advisable that the the physician should have ethics while prescribing medications and should consider the side effects before advising the patients on the antidepressants .they have to exercise legal liability also.There should be legal liability forprescribing antidepressants incase of deaths or complication resulting from poor prescription then those responsible i.e. the physicians should be responsible for the death and law should be taken.They can also be summoned in courts for not telling the patients about the risk of the medication. Antidepressant must cause harm so as to create liability. Medical doctors should not claim that it is the depressant that caused the risk after giving it to patients instead they should be liable for the death of patients.

Conclusion

It is very clear that antidepressants are less effective and highly harmful than what we normally know. The medical practionares organization and professionals have to relook the way antidepressant are so toxic since it is used to  mostly used worldwide treat depression. There should be also open forums to discuss about the effects of antidepressant and this will create capacity building on how to improve the public health at the same time lowering the mortality rate, this in the other hand will improve the country’seconomy, aged people will not die from hemorrhagic stroke and there will also be high birthrate. The prescribers have to understand their responsibility and serve patients knowing there is law guiding them and life is important and everyone has a right to life.

Work Cited

Romeo, Elena, et al. “Effects of antidepressant treatment on neuroactive steroids in major depression.” American Journal of Psychiatry (2014).

Roose, Steven P., et al. “Antidepressant pharmacotherapy in the treatment of depression in the very old: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.” American Journal of Psychiatry (2015).

Wang, Li, et al. “The effects of antidepressant treatment on resting‐state functional brain networks in patients with major depressive disorder.” Human brain mapping 36.2 (2015): 768-778.