You read that right. Researchers have been experimenting with a new drug that treats depression and it works in a single day. Combine that with less side effects, and we have a revolutionary drug on our hands.
Standard anti-depressants require weeks to take full effect, however this new realm of anti-depressant medication only requires twenty-four hours. Those suffering will find relief from their gloom in a single day.
From Science Alert:
Currently available antidepressant medications such as Prozac and Lexapro work by increasing the levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. Known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - or SSRIs - they are believed to work by limiting the reabsorption of serotonin into the brain’s presynaptic cell, and this readjustment of serotonin levels appears to help the brain cells send and receive chemical messages more effectively, which can boost a person’s mood.
There are a range of SSRIs that are currently available to people with depression, but each one has a different chemical make-up, so will affect a patient in a slightly different way, and could cause a range of negative side effects such as nausea, dizziness, reduced sexual desire or erectile dysfunction, drowsiness, insomnia, and weight gain. Patients will also have to wait for one or two months for these medications to relieve their symptoms, which can not only be emotionally excruciating for them, but incredibly dangerous if they happen to be suicidal.
Instead of focusing on serotonin, researchers have turned their attention to GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter.
There are two types of neurotransmitters that communicate information around our brain - excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters. While excitatory neurotransmitters are responsible for stimulating the brain, inhibitory neurotransmitters are there to calm it down and balance your mood. But in people with depression, the researchers hypothesise, the excitatory messages in certain brain regions are not strong enough, and the most effective way to fight this could be to reduce the levels of inhibitory neurotransmitters in these areas.
Thompson and his team looked into a class of compounds - called GABA-NAM - that reduce the inhibitory messages that are sent via the GABA neurotransmitter. When tested in rats with depressive symptoms, not only did these compounds balance out the work of the different types of neuotransmitters to stabilise their mood in less than 24 hours, but they also minimised unwanted side effects, being able to affect only in the regions of the brain that are essential for mood regulation.
The drugs are currently being prepared for human trials. If successful, these medications will provide relief to millions of people for whom SSRI treatments proved to be a false hope.
Read the whole article here.
Are you or a loved one suffering from depression? Contemplated suicide? Please call 1-800-273-TALK.