Accutane Side Effects: Should Depression Be A Concern?


Medical professionals and acne-pestered adolescents have no doubts about the effectiveness of the severe acne drug isotretinoin. It's the looming possibility of side effects such as depression and fetal damage that makes people uneasy when considering using this medication.

Accutane (isotretinoin) is one of Hoffman-LaRoche's most popular and controversial pharmaceuticals. This week, a study published in the Archives of Dermatology vindicated isotretinoin from causing depression. In this report, Christina Y. Chia, MD, from Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, St. Louis, and colleagues examined whether patients with moderate to severe acne treated with isotretinoin experienced an increase in depressive symptoms compared with patients treated with a topical antibiotic, topical retinoid, and an oral antibiotic.

Dr. Chia found that "The use of isotretinoin in the treatment of moderate-severe acne in adolescents did not increase depressive symptoms. On the contrary, our study shows that treatment of acne improves depressive symptoms".

Five years earlier, in 2000, the isotretinoin-depression link still appeared misleading. That time, the Archives of Dermatology posted study, headed by Dr. Susan S. Jick, from the Boston University School of Medicine, which found no evidence that isotretinoin increases the risk for depression, suicide, or other psychiatric disorders.

Even though isotretinoin finds ample support among dermatologists and psychiatrists, a host of parents, politicians and medical professionals hail isotretinoin as a medical misfortune. For instance, Dr. David J. Graham, the Associate Director for Science and Medicine in FDA's Office of Drug Safety, recently warned that Accutane should be taken off the market.

And while there are few studies with any negative observations about isotretinoin, Dr. Douglas Bremner's research at of the Emory University School of Medicine has linked isotretinoin treatment with changes in brain function. At the conclusion of this study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Bremner concurred with Dr. Graham's view that isotretinoin proves too dangerous for human use.

Dr. Bremner explains that to invoke depression, isotretinoin must influence the brain. During the investigation, brain function of the subjects was measured using positron emission tomography (PET) before and after four months of treatment with isotretinoin. Isotretinoin treatment was associated with decreased brain metabolism in the orbitofrontal cortex- the area of the brain known to mediate symptoms of depression. Yet, there were no differences in severity of depressive symptoms between the isotretinoin and antibiotic treatment groups before or after treatment.

The pessimistic effects of isotretinoin also caught the attention of Diane K. Wysowski PhD. Dr. Wysowski noted that in June 2000, isotretinoin ranked among the top 10 drugs linked to depression and suicide attempts in the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System database. In 2001, Dr. Wysowski examined isotretinoin's depression inducing potential and posted her findings in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Dr. Wysowski concluded that more studies of isotretinoin are needed. She also advised patients and their parents to immediately report mood swings and symptoms that are suggestive of depression such as sadness, crying, loss of appetite, unusual fatigue, withdrawal, and inability to concentrate to their prescribing physician. These protective measures can avoid more serious side effects and permit appropriate treatment, including consideration of drug discontinuation and referral for psychiatric care.

While dissension among researchers still exists about whether or not isotretinoin causes depression, one idea most of them can agree on is that more research on the side effects of isotretinoin are desirable. If you are not in the mood for being an isotretinoin guinea pig, Geoffrey Redmond MD, author of The Good News about Women's Hormones, suggests using hormone therapy and/or using Retin-A if isotretinoin seems too chancy for you.

Health author and Stanford University graduate Naweko San-Joyz lovingly writes from her home in San Diego. Her works include "Acne Messages: Crack the code of your zits and say goodbye to acne" (ISBN: 0974912204) and the upcoming work "Skinny Fat Chicks, Why we're still not getting this dieting thing" (ISBN: 0974912212) for release in June of 2005. For useful acne self-help articles visit http://www.Noixia.com





Latest Acne News:




Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to fetch http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?ei=UTF-8&p=acne&eo=UTF-8 (HTTP Response: HTTP/1.1 999 Unable to process request at this time -- error 999 ) in /home/.hellodolly/jsteiner64/acnearticles.org/magpierss/rss_fetch.inc on line 238
Site:

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/.hellodolly/jsteiner64/acnearticles.org/inc/ads-body.inc on line 35


Site: Acne - Google News
Study Outlines Teens' Preferences And Trade-offs For Freedom From Acne - Science Daily (press release)

Study Outlines Teens' Preferences And Trade-offs For Freedom From Acne
Science Daily (press release) - 18 hours ago
20, 2008) ? Teens report that they would pay about $275 to have never had acne, and are willing to pay considerably more to be acne-free than to have 50 ...
Popular Acne Treatments - 3 Treatments Offered by Medical Experts ... - Best Syndication

Best Syndication

Popular Acne Treatments - 3 Treatments Offered by Medical Experts ...
Best Syndication, CA - 2 hours ago
Acne is a very devious skin disorder. Your face can stay clear and blemish free for a certain period but without warning, pimples, cysts and pustules can ...
Appeals court mulls lawsuit over anti-acne drug - Forbes

Appeals court mulls lawsuit over anti-acne drug
Forbes, NY - Aug 19, 2008
... court will soon decide whether to allow testimony from an expert witness who sought to show the anti-acne drug Accutane causes a chronic bowel disorder. ...
Federal appeals court to hear Accutane lawsuit Forbes
all 21 news articles
Some Information on Acne Issues - Corsavoo.com

Some Information on Acne Issues
Corsavoo.com, France - Aug 20, 2008
If you are affected with adult acne then you should include the following in your daily diet along with these recommended vitamins and minerals: Include ...
Study Lets Teens Sound Off on Acne Therapies - U.S. News & World Report

Study Lets Teens Sound Off on Acne Therapies
U.S. News & World Report, DC - Aug 18, 2008
18 (HealthDay News) -- American teens would be willing to pay a lot of money to be acne-free, according to researchers who surveyed 266 high school students ...
Special Summer Camp Helps Girls Recognize Inner and Outer Beauty - MarketWatch

Special Summer Camp Helps Girls Recognize Inner and Outer Beauty
MarketWatch - Aug 20, 2008
One critical aspect of a teenager's self-confidence is skin health, including proper management of acne.(1) According to results of the Skin Matters survey, ...
The Simple Acne Cure That Works - Corsavoo.com

The Simple Acne Cure That Works
Corsavoo.com, France - Aug 20, 2008
In that respect are more but notwithstanding, these are the top ten skin care tips: What is a proper acne control skin care? With so many skin products it ...
Acne Skin Care Treatment - 5 Useful Tips Corsavoo.com
Treating Acne: 4 Don'ts and Do's of Treating Acne Corsavoo.com
all 3 news articles
Teens Wiling to Pay $275 to Avoid Acne - MedHeadlines

Teens Wiling to Pay $275 to Avoid Acne
MedHeadlines, IL - Aug 20, 2008
By MedHeadlines ? Aug 20th, 2008 ? Category: Acne, Adolescents, Medical Research Acne is an almost unavoidable aspect of growing up but the teenagers most ...
The natural home acne remedy that works The natural home acne ... - Corsavoo.com

The natural home acne remedy that works The natural home acne ...
Corsavoo.com, France - Aug 20, 2008
There is an enormous amount of people that experience the acne skin disease in the early days of their adolescence. Many of this teenagers pass for a ...
Some Tips on Fighting Acne Successfully Corsavoo.com
all 2 news articles
Holistic Acne Treatment Helps Thousands Worldwide In Quest For ... - Live-PR.com (Pressemitteilung)

Holistic Acne Treatment Helps Thousands Worldwide In Quest For ...
Live-PR.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria - Aug 20, 2008
20.08.2008 10:10:41 "Acne sufferers are getting tired of being exploited", Says Walden "There are too many marketers and charlatans out to make a fast buck ...
Home | Site Map | Resource Links | Contact Us
© 2006