TEN MEDICAL SCHOOLS TO HOST FIRST MAJOR STUDY OF ANTIDEPRESSANT TREATMENT IN DEPRESSED PEOPLE AGED 75+

(NAPS) -- The fastest growing segment of the American population is made up of people aged 75 and older. As the American population ages, the prevalence of late-life psychiatric disorders -- especially depression -- will increase.

The National Institute of Mental Health has called depression in seniors a "public health crisis," and asserts the importance of treating depression in this age group. According to Dr. Barry D. Lebowitz, chief of the adult and geriatric treatment and preventive interventions branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, "it is not normal to be old and sad. Depression is a biologically based illness that can and should be treated."

It is also important to treat depression because suicide is a symptom of untreated depression. While the suicide rate is decreasing for most American age groups, the suicide rate among people 75 and older is rising.

Many clinical trials involve a broad age-range of otherwise healthy adults, including people aged 75 and older. But only five studies (involving a total of 52 patients) specifically designed to evaluate treatments in this age group have been published in the worldwide medical literature. And because people aged 75+ have unique health concerns, such as being more likely than others to have a co-existent medical illness and being more sensitive to the side effects of medications, this means physicians and patients have had little well-controlled data upon which to base treatment decisions.

Until now. A study is set to begin that will for the first time assess antidepressant treatment in people aged 75 and older. The study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of Celexa, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) known generically as citalopram HBr, in 200 depressed patients in this age group.

Ten leading academic medical schools in the United States are set to begin enrolling depressed patients aged 75 years and older in this study. Individuals interested locally can call the St. Louis University Clinical Trials Unit at (314) 268-5385 to find out more about the study. Other participating schools include Brown University/Butler Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center/New York State Psychiatric Center, Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry-New York Presbyterian Hospital, Duke University Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Late-Life Depression Clinic/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Yale New Haven Medical Center.

Celexa is new to American physicians, approved for marketing in the U.S. in July 1998, but it is the best-selling antidepressant in 13 nations. This includes eight countries in Europe where other members of its class of drugs are available. Celexa is available in 65 nations, and more than eight million people worldwide have taken it.

In clinical trials involving more than 23,000 patients, Celexa has been shown to be well-tolerated. The most frequent adverse events reported were nausea, dry mouth, and sleepiness.