Furious Seasons

October 26, 2009

Animal Study Finds Psych Meds Given To Young Create Psychiatric Disorders In Later Life

That is the conclusion of a study by a neuroscience graduate student at Georgetown University, but let me add some caveats: the applicability of animal studies to humans isn't 100 percent and this study has not been published yet. It's scheduled to be presented this week at a neuroscience meeting. Nonetheless, its conclusion is bound to be controversial.

"Using behavioral tests to detect characteristics of autism and schizophrenia, the researchers found that when given to infant rats, the drugs caused behavioral abnormalities later in life. What's more, the abnormalities were not limited to the drugs known to cause neuronal cell death.
"'That is of particular concern because some of the drugs may predispose to psychiatric disorders later in life,' says lead author Patrick Forcelli, a graduate student in the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience at GUMC. 'At the same time, our studies identify specific drugs that cause little or no long-term behavioral impairment.'"

The drugs given the rats were described as ones for epilepsy, mood disorders and pain (meaning mostly likely they used anti-convulsants, anti-depressants and hydrocodone or similar drugs). I don't have any specificity beyond that, so I sure look forward to this study's presentation.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at October 26, 2009 12:05 AM

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Comments

Fish are having problems with Prozac also. The drug could compromise their "safety" according to this study.

http://www.ssristories.com/show.php?item=2752

Paragraph one and two read: "Hybrid striped bass exposed to the antidepressant fluoxetine (the generic name for Eli Lilly's Prozac) are less interested in food and more prone to unusual behaviour that could compromise its safety, according to a study published in a recent issue of the journal Aquatic Toxicology."

"The study by toxicologists at Clemson University Kristen Gaworecki and Stephen Klaine exposed hybrid striped bass (Morone saxatilis x M. chrysops) to elevated levels of fluoxetine [Prozac] (about 1000 times the level normally found in wastewater) and observed the responses of the fish to live prey (fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas) offered as food."

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=1752

Posted by: Rosie at October 26, 2009 06:19 AM

"...a study by a neuroscience graduate student at Georgetown University..."

Poor bastard... That's the end of his/her career. Somebody should have told him/her that one doesn't countermand the prevailing dogma without repercussions (unless one's conscience dictates otherwise, that is).

Matt

Posted by: Matthew Holford at October 26, 2009 08:37 AM

i saw this story and blogged on it a couple days ago. scary. i am looking forward to more info, including the drugs studied. ALSO - compared to non-human animals, the human brain development timespan is extended, relative to other aspects of development such as physical and social development. so the susecptibility period would be longer in humans than rats.

Posted by: MedsVsTherapy at October 26, 2009 10:57 AM