Antidepressant medications in dementia: evidence and potential mechanisms of treatment-resistance.
Psychol Med
; 53(3): 654-667, 2023 02.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36621964
ABSTRACT
Depression in dementia is common, disabling and causes significant distress to patients and carers. Despite widespread use of antidepressants for depression in dementia, there is no evidence of therapeutic efficacy, and their use is potentially harmful in this patient group. Depression in dementia has poor outcomes and effective treatments are urgently needed. Understanding why antidepressants are ineffective in depression in dementia could provide insight into their mechanism of action and aid identification of new therapeutic targets. In this review we discuss why depression in dementia may be a distinct entity, current theories of how antidepressants work and how these mechanisms of action may be affected by disease processes in dementia. We also consider why clinicians continue to prescribe antidepressants in dementia, and novel approaches to understand and identify effective treatments for patients living with depression and dementia.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Demencia
/
Antidepresivos
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Psychol Med
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Reino Unido