Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

Study: Drugs still best for treating senior depression

LTC Liability Monitor, March 30, 2006

Despite a range of other methods used to treat depression in the elderly, new findings suggest that antidepressants are the best method for keeping symptoms at bay, the Seattle Times reported. Results of the two-year study, which was published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirm a newer trend among elder care physicians: prescribing antidepressants not only to treat depression but also to keep it from coming back.

Declining mental capability in some elderly people is one reason why antidepressants can continue to help long after psychotherapy, exercise, socializing, and other treatment methods are no longer useful, the study stated. An estimated 3 to 5% of seniors develop depression, the Times reported, and more than half of those seniors see it return within three years.

Most Popular