2023-05-21 17:03:38
The effectiveness of antidepressants is called into question by an analysis of studies conducted by the Cochrane. 338395827/fizkes – stock.adobe.com
In addition to anxiety, antidepressants are increasingly being prescribed for chronic pain. Their effectiveness is questioned.
In France, chronic pain, such as neuropathic pain, musculoskeletal or the fibromyalgia, affect 1 in 5 people. These pains are particularly difficult to manage. Opioid medications are not recommended, not only because of the risk of addiction, but also because they are not effective.
Doctors had found an alternative with antidepressants. In addition to their effects on anxiety, very common in cases of chronic pain, these drugs would indeed have a specific analgesic action. Antidepressants are therefore more and more frequently prescribed in the context of chronic pain.
A single molecule
Their effectiveness, however, has just been called into question by an analysis of studies conducted by the Cochrane, a collaborative database which regularly publishes reference works to summarize the state of knowledge on a given medical subject.
Read alsoChronic pain: why (and how) consult a pain center?
Here, the authors have compiled 176 studies performed on a total of some…
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