Clinical studies or, to be more exact, their final results are vitally important in the lifecycle of a certain medication. These are the findings of the studies, which form the basis for the official approval or disapproval of the given medication. Even later, when the medication becomes available on the market, the scientists continue to study it in order to monitor its effectiveness, safety, and other important aspects.
Approved in 1991, nowadays Zoloft is one of the most widely used antidepressants, which is prescribed to treat depression, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Since the date of its approval Zoloft has constantly been monitored during different clinical studies; summaries of some of them are presented below.
Zoloft Demonstrates Greater Effectiveness than Prozac
Dr. Cipriani, a psychiatrist from the University of Verona in Italy, conducted a large review of about 132 clinical studies, evaluating the effectiveness and tolerability of the modern antidepressants, including Zoloft. In general, more than 9000 patients participated in those studies.
After summarizing the results from all the studies, Dr. Cipriani made a conclusion that Zoloft demonstrated better results in treating major depression in comparison to Prozac, commonly treated as the leader on the market of antidepressants.
A double-blind, randomized and placebo controlled clinical trial was conducted to evaluate habit-forming potential of three antidepressants: Zoloft, Xanax, and Adderall. Unlike other medications, Zoloft did not produce any effects of physical or psychological dependency on patients, participated in the study.
In other words, during the study Zoloft-treated patients were not associated with any signs of drug dependency, such as euphoria or drug liking. Besides, it is also known that pre-marketing clinical experience with Zoloft did not reveal any tendency for withdrawal syndrome or any drug-seeking behavior in people, who received Zoloft.
Elderly People Are Not Exposed To Greater Risks with Zoloft
According to one clinical study, conducted in the USA, with 663 elderly participants (above 65), there were no differences in side effects, associated with Zoloft use, between elderly people and younger patients.
It is known that of 634 cases of overdose with Zoloft, 8 cases resulted in fatal outcome, 75 persons completely recovered after overdose, and 28 people recovered with certain health consequences, such as hair loss, ejaculation disorder, libido decrease, fatigue and insomnia.
It is interesting to note, that the dose of Zoloft, which may become fatal, varies significantly. In one case a person took 13.5 grams of Zoloft (it means about 130 pills of Zoloft 100mg) and subsequently recovered completely. However, in the other case, a 2.5 grams dose became fatal for a patient.
Zoloft Potential in Treating Huntington's Disease
One of the recent studies, the results of which were published in the Experimental Neurology at the end of 2007, revealed one more potential benefit of Zoloft. The medication was shown effective in treating Huntington's disease (HD), rare but quite devastating progressive degenerative disorder, which is associated with uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances and mental deterioration.
Though the study was conducted on animals (laboratory mice), the findings were said to be important for the treatment of HD in humans. During the study, the scientists found out that Zoloft administered to the HD-modeled animals prolonged their survival, improved motor performance, and ameliorated brain atrophy. The findings of the study also provided evidences of the neuroprotective feature of Zoloft.
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