Thursday, January 21, 2021

Do antidepressants help chronic back pain and osteoarthritis?


https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/uos-dah011821.php

 

News Release 20-Jan-2021
University of Sydney

 

Antidepressants are commonly used worldwide to treat pain, however new research from the University of Sydney shows they offer little to no help for people suffering chronic back pain and osteoarthritis and may even cause harm.


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"We conducted a review of all randomised clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of antidepressants for people with back pain or knee osteoarthritis and found that for back pain the antidepressants were either ineffective or provided a very small effect, which was unlikely to be perceived as worthwhile by most patients. For people with osteoarthritis, effects were still small, but could be potentially perceived as worthwhile by some patients," he said.

"It is concerning as some antidepressants significantly increase the risk of a person to experience adverse events. Many people are being treated with these medications that may not be helping their pain and may be doing them harm."


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