March 31, 1997

 Prozac, counseling can minimize post-natal depression
 in women

 (97/3/31) HealthGate (MALDEN) -- After giving birth, women with
 post-natal depression may want to give Prozac or therapy a try.
 According to researchers from the Withington Hospital in Manchester,
 England, a combination of Prozac (fluoxetine) and one therapy session,
or
 several therapy sessions without medication can help women beat the
 post-natal depression blues, which can affect women six to eight weeks
 after having a baby.

 Dr. Louis Appleby and colleagues studied 87 new mothers in England;
 their findings were published in this week?s British Medical Journal .
The
 women were separated into six different groups without knowing what
 kind of treatment they would receive. The first group was treated with
 Prozac and given counseling, while the second group took placebo pills
 and received counseling. A third group took Prozac alone to treat the
 depression, while a fourth took the placebo pill only. The fifth group
 visited a counselor once, while a sixth group visited a therapist for
six
 sessions.

 The results: women who took Prozac alone did far better than the women
 who only took placebo pills, and the women who had the six therapy
 sessions were less depressed than those who only had one meeting.

 Those who used Prozac with therapy did not improve twice as fast,
 Appleby noted, but the combination is beneficial.

 "In women who will accept an antidepressant after a single counseling
 session, further counseling offers no additional benefit," the report
states.
 "Many prefer not to take a drug treatment however, and for them, a
 course of counseling is equivalently effective."

 Women who have recently given birth may be hesitant to take Prozac
 because it may interfere with healthy breast-feeding, or they may feel
that
 they can improve without medication. Women who were visiting a
 therapist for six sessions showed improvement because each session gave
 them something tangible to look forward to, said Appleby.
 - Michelle Badash

 Reference:
 Appleby, L. et. al ?A controlled study of fluoxetine and
 cognitive-behavioural counselling in the treatment of postnatal
 depression,? British Medical Journal, March 29, 1997, volume 314,
 pages 932-936.


--
Cindy

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Cindy Curtis , RN , IBCLC
Virginia , USA
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.tidalwave.net/~cindy