LONDON — Zoloft and Cipralex work slightly better than 10 other popular antidepressants, and should be psychiatrists’ first choice for patients with moderate to severe depression, according to a new study.
Previous research found few differences between antidepressants. A U.S. government study in 2006 concluded that patients with major depression did equally well on different drugs.
But in a paper published online today in the Lancet medical journal, two antidepressants came out on top, though only marginally.
International doctors examined more than 100 previous studies on a dozen antidepressants, which included nearly 26,000 patients from 1991 to 2007.
They found that Zoloft and Cipralex were the best options when considering benefits, side effects, and cost. In contrast, Pfizer’s Edronax was the least effective.
All three drugs are now available generically.
The other drugs tested were Celexa, Cymbalta, Efexor, Ixel, Luvox, Prozac, Seroxat, Remeron, and Zyban.
The experts judged a drug to be successful if it reduced patients’ baseline depression scores on two standardized tests by at least half and if patients had not stopped taking it within two months.
Dr. Andrea Cipriani, the study’s lead author, said all the antidepressants were effective, and that the differences between them were not huge. “If a patient is taking a drug and doing well, he should not stop and switch drugs,” he said.
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