Drug found ineffective for Veterans' stress

Jae C. Hong/associated press

A United States Navy maintained, psychological tests at the Marine Corps Air ground combat Center in Twentynine palms, California, in 2009 to take.

Generally prescribed drugs for the treatment of severe post-traumatic stress symptoms for veterans are not more effective than placebo and come with serious side effects including weight gain and fatigue, researchers on Tuesday reported.

The amazing statement, from the largest study of its kind in veterans, challenges current treatment standards so directly, that it could soon change some experts to practice said.

Ten to 20 per cent of those who get under heavy fight developing permanent symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and one-fifth of the treatment for a recipe for a so-called antipsychotic drugs, according to government figures.

The new study, published in the journal of the American Medical Association, focused on a drug, RISPERDAL. But experts said that their results will most likely expand to the entire class, including drugs such as Geodon, Seroquel and Abilify.

"I think it is a very important study" given how often the drugs were prescribed, said Dr. Charles Hoge, was senior scientist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of research, not involved in the study, but wrote him a document accompanying editorial. He added: "it is certainly in question make the use of antipsychotics in General for PTSD calls."

The use of such drugs has grown in the last decade, as thousands of soldiers and Marines have found that their post traumatic stress symptoms supports drugs not respond to antidepressants, the only one by the scientific evidence for the disease. Doctors have to antipsychotics, transformed the mood, extend treatment, almost entirely on their experiences with them and how they operate expect based strongly influence.

To test these assumptions, 123 veterans with the disease start a therapy, a team of researchers with the Veterans Affairs medical system had joined their treatment RISPERDAL added. Some patients, others in the Iraq or Afghanistan; served in Viet Nam, Antidepressant tried all treatments and little help found.

After six months of treatment actions these veterans no better than a similar group of 124 veterans, the placebo received. Restored around 5 percent in both groups, and 10 to 20 percent reported at least some improvement is based on standardized measures.

"There is no suggestion that the medication was an overall benefit to their lives," said Dr. John H. Krystal, the Director of the Division of Clinical Neurosciences of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD and main author of the study.

Dr. Krystal said the benefits that many doctors thought, they were always of the drugs "may be treatment, came from establishing just the patient, not the drugs." He said that Neuroleptics features, as well as post-traumatic symptoms could help certain individuals with psychotic but that the study was not designed to identify them.

The findings come at a time when the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs burden to offer treatment, service members who are not only concerned about the stigma of mental illness, but are also often skeptical return the value of the treatment. Surveys have found that this thought treatment need only about half actually find it.

Yet studies indicate that talk therapy, alone or in combination with antidepressants, speed up the liberation of common symptoms such as nightmares & withdrawn behavior. Tends to be relaxation skills include these psychotherapy; incrementally increased exposure to stress triggers; and on some inaccurate assumptions, the fear of fuel pump.

Time should also take into account, be new research has found. "We find that is about 24 months after an a year deployment of enough" for the body even physiologically reset, Dr. Hoge said.

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