Word: prozac
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...months ended Sept. 30, 2003, declared that "sales of central-nervous-system drugs rose, particularly on the strength of STADOL NS, an antimigraine product, and Serzone, an antidepressant treatment with a low incidence of side effects." The next year, medical studies were released claiming "Serzone to be superior to Prozac in increasing sleep efficiency and providing better sleep quality for people suffering from depression...
Another neurotransmitter almost certainly involved in the biochemistry of desire is serotonin, which, like dopamine, plays a role in feelings of satisfaction. Antidepressants like Prozac, which enhance mood by keeping serotonin in circulation longer than usual, can paradoxically depress the ability to achieve orgasm. But "dopamine and serotonin," says Heiman, "appear to interact with each other in a complicated way to impact desire...
Antidepressants known as SSRIs are on a bit of a downer lately, at least for kids. A British regulatory agency just broadened an earlier warning to include four more SSRIs that should not be prescribed to children because the risk of suicidal thoughts may outweigh the benefits. (Only Prozac was deemed O.K. for kids.) In the U.S. a similar warning is in place for the drug Paxil. Meanwhile, health officials on both sides of the pond advise that young patients should be weaned from these drugs only under medical supervision...
...prescriptions may be saving lives, though. As the rate of their use on campus has gone up, overall reported U.S. college suicide rates, despite the cluster at N.Y.U., have fallen noticeably, from a total of 122 in 2000 to 80 in 2001. "It's the Prozac payoff," says Marano. That and the determined efforts of campus mental-health professionals to diagnose depression early, treat it aggressively and reassure students that the sunny college careers of yesteryear represent an ideal and not always a reality...
...pharmaceutical companies could be doing better too--and if they don't, the government must push them to do it. There is a lot of money to be made in developing the next Prozac, but there is less profit if you test it for longer than the law demands. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't require long-term studies that follow patients over decades. Its only requirement is toxicity trials that span six to eight weeks. In an effort to entice companies to conduct lengthier studies, the agency now grants an extension of six months of exclusive marketing...