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news.Elderly patients with depression treated with Eli Lilly's Cymbalta had twice as much improvement in verbal learning and recalling information than those given a sugar pill, according to new research.
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By the end of an eight-week study, patients treated with Cymbalta (duloxetine hydrochloride) 60mg once daily demonstrated significantly greater improvement in cognition when compared to those treated with a sugar pill.
Additionally, 27.4% of Cymbalta-treated patients were virtually free of their depressive symptoms, a rate nearly double that seen with a sugar pill (14.7%). Significant improvements in depressive symptoms in Cymbalta-treated patients were also seen as early as one week.
“Treating and diagnosing depression in elderly patients can be complicated – their condition presents differently from younger patients, making it more difficult to diagnose, and their response to medication is less predictable,” stated Dr Alan Siegal, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale University.
“Depression-related cognitive impairment, along with a greater sensitivity to medication side effects, often make it more difficult for older patients to comply with treatment recommendations,” he added.
Depression is a common illness among the aging, but is often minimized by the patient and their doctor. Undiagnosed and untreated elderly depression leads to unnecessary pain and suffering and increased healthcare costs.
“Previous clinical trials using other antidepressants in this patient population showed cognitive dysfunction persisted even after the depression had responded to treatment,” explained Dr Joel Raskin, medical advisor for Eli Lilly and Company. “In this study, significant improvements in both cognition and depression were seen.”