Dr. Ronald Fuchs of Sproul Medical Center in Broomall, says it's a common story. A patient on antidepressants needing higher and higher doses to get any relief, only to develop side effects that drive the sufferer to stop taking the medication altogether.
He's taking part in the TRIADE trial, phase 3 tests of a new type of antidepressant.
Amitifadine is intended for people who failed with other medications.
It elevates levels of 3 chemicals in the brain - serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Other antidepressants only act on one or two of those.
Dr. Ronald Fuchs, of Sproul Medical Center in Broomall, says, "By working on 3 different pathways, at different percentages of these mechanisms, the potential for remission of symptoms - or control of symptoms - is higher because you're not just coming at it from one direction."
Dr. Fuchs, who is one of the local doctors involved in the study, says the three-pronged approach may also reduce the side effects of other antidepressants
Those side effects, such as weight gain or sexual dysfunction, drive some patients to give up their medications.
To find out more about the study, call 610-356-0662, or see TRIADE trial.
