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Home Q & A Board Biology-Related Homework Help Medicine Pharmacology (Moderator: DelightfulMind)
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CarbonRobot CarbonRobot
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A year ago
How is it measured how effective antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and other drugs with possibly very subjective effects? Like a 1 to 10 score given by patient to various statements?
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Anonymous
wrote...
#1
A year ago
Hi CarbonRobot,

Yes, there is a scale they go by.

According to this article:

Validated clinical rating scales are used to determine the effect size of each treatment (placebo, medicine under study, and active comparator). Common rating scales used include the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale, the Clinical Global Improvement Scale, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and Brief Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and many others.

The article also goes on to say that they also look at how the drug effects the subject by looking at MRIs:

Many studies have employed brain-imaging techniques, including PET, fMRI, and SPECT scans, to measure the effectiveness of medication in changing observable brain activity. While brain imaging changes are not accepted by the FDA as an outcome measure proving efficacy for drug approval, they are nevertheless measures that can show relative effectiveness of medication compared to placebo.
CarbonRobot Author
wrote...
#2
A year ago
Interesting. I just wonder how anticonvulsants might play into depression. I was put on one and I do feel better. I'm not bipolar and generally feel crumpy all the time with no manic phase. But it does seem to slow my mind down enough that I get more done without short circuiting.
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