Selected abbreviations and acronyms 5-HT serotonin DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders EEG electroencephalogram HDRS Hamilton
Depression Rating Scale LDAEP loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials MAOI monoamine oxidase inhibitor MDD Major Depressive Disorder SSRI selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor STAR*D Sequenced Alternatives to Relieve Depression TCA tricyclic antidepressant
Depressive Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical disorders constitute a major public health issue, and are estimated to rank in second position among all diseases by the year 2010, thus contributing heavily to the global burden of diseases in man, according to Murray and Lopez, who conducted a study for the World Health Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Organization (WHO).1 Therefore, the effort to alleviate depressive symptoms in the general
population is a major public health issue. The concept of clinical remission in the treatment of major depressive disorders has gained growing attention in the last few years. The reasons for this relatively recent interest, are manifold. Depressed patients, as well as patient organizations, are not totally Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical satisfied with the current effectiveness and tolerance of available antidepressant Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical medications. Despite the obvious benefits of antidepressants, many depressed patients are still suffering from ABT-737 price incapacitating residual symptoms. Furthermore, follow-up investigations have demonstrated that depressed patients who do not reach full remission after antidepressant therapy, that is, patients who are still presenting a number of residual symptoms, are at. a higher risk of relapse or recurrence than patients achieving full remission after treatment.2-4 Conversely, depressed patients who Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical reach full remission after treatment have a better level of functioning5
and have an improved prognosis6 compared these with patients who are nonremitters. Adequate clinical remission is therefore of great, functional importance for the patient, because it seems to be a predictor of long-term stability and a rather good indicator of better psychosocial functioning, which is of utmost, importance for assessing quality of life in our depressed patients.7“9 For the above reasons, it becomes of great, interest, to the scientific community and to our patients to report, in future clinical trials, not only rates of responders but also remission rates, in order to assess the real clinical efficacy of antidepressants and to position new treatments in outcome studies.