Word: prozac
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...National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Md. With computerized scanners, researchers are peering at the chemistry of the working mind. Meanwhile, molecular biologists are beginning to map abnormal behavior to specific strands of dna. And by tracing the action of drugs like clozapine for schizophrenia and Prozac (fluoxetine) for depression, scientists can link moods and feelings to the action of certain chemicals in the brain. The result is a burst of new ideas about how the mind works -- and what is going on when it does not -- unequaled since the days of Freud and Jung...
...time. A second category of antidepressants, the tricyclics (so named for their triple-carbon-ring structure), raises the level of these neurotransmitters in the brain by slowing the rate at which they are reabsorbed by nerve cells. The third and newest category of medications, represented by the popular Prozac and a number of other drugs, inhibits the uptake of zero serotonin alone. As a result of this specificity, these newest drugs reverse depressive symptoms without the severe side effects of other antidepressants, which can cause low blood pressure, dizziness and blurred vision if not monitored. (Some people allege, however, that...
Last fall, for instance, despite ambiguous evidence, a jury ordered Merrell Dow to pay a Texas couple $33.8 million; they claimed the antinausea drug Bendectin had maimed their child in the womb. And patients around the country are lining up to sue Eli Lilly, alleging that the anti-depressant Prozac induces violent thoughts -- despite FDA findings to the contrary. In some cases, companies decide to settle out of court rather than take their chances with juries. Upjohn, for example, paid an undisclosed sum to a woman who claimed the drug Halcion had driven her to commit murder. Most doctors believe...
Meanwhile, Eli Lilly is battling several lawsuits that claim, on the basis of scant evidence, that the antidepressant Prozac can cause extreme agitation, suicidal tendencies and even an impulse to murder...
...PROZAC...