Acupuncture Today
January, 2007, Vol. 08, Issue 01
New Chinese Herbal Formulas for
Treating Depression
By Jake Paul Fratkin, OMD, LAc
It's becoming more common to encounter patients who are on a
mood-stabilizing drug for depression or anxiety. Most of these are
SSRIs (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibiters) given for depression
and include Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa and Lexapro. Serotonin is a
neuro-transmitter that allows communication between central
nervous system neurons and, if deficient, can lead to depression.
Western medicines hope to keep existing serotonin in circulation
without being reabsorbed. Other pharmaceutical strategies include
tricyclic antidepressants, which inhibit the re-uptake of serotonin and
norepinephrine, and include Adapin, Elavil, Norpramin and Pamelor;
MAO antidepressants, which inhibit monamine oxidase and thus
degrade neurotransmitters, and include Marplan, Nardil and Parnate;
and finally, "second generation" medicines, each working with unique
mechanisms, including Desyrel, Effexor, Remeron, Serzone, Cymbalta
and Wellbutrin.
Success rates for the treatment of depression by all types of Western
medicine are controversial. One study claims a success rate as high
as 70 percent, while another claims it is as low as 18 percent. Also,
many of the neurotransmitter medicines have side effects (e.g.,
nausea, insomnia, headache), and the MAO antidepressants, in
particular, are responsible for the highest iatrogenic death rate of any
class of pharmaceutical medicines.
These medicines do not build or create neurotransmitters, but try to
keep existing neurotransmitters in circulation longer. Often, the
clinical effectiveness of a single medicine plateaus - it works for a
while, but then seems to stop working. Medical doctors will then
rotate or substitute with another medicine, with the patient as a
guinea pig.
The research done on neurotransmitter involvement is relatively new,
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