More than a million Belgians take antidepressants. Belgians are therefore among the largest users in the world. Unfortunately they don’t always work. More than half of patients respond insufficiently to antidepressant treatment. A group of Belgian and Dutch scientists wants to change this and are investigating a new treatment for depression.
Psychiatrist and research leader Livia De Picker explains more about the study: “Previous research has shown that about 30% of all depressed patients have elevated levels of inflammation in the blood. Following that finding, it was also shown in previous research that patients could benefit from an anti-inflammatory , in addition to their treatment.” The researchers are now looking for 240 patients with depression to test two types of anti-inflammatories. “It is very exciting, it is the most ambitious project that we have already started in our research group”, says De Picker.