Serotonin syndrome: potentially fatal but difficult to recognize.
Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: Depression causes misery to the individual, a strain on families,colleagues and friends, and countless lost working days.Individuals with depression are at high risk of suicide and physi-cal illness. Antidepressants are effective in reducing the psychologicaland physical symptoms of depression, with a number needed totreat of around three (far better than many interventions for phys-ical illnesses). When combined with psychological and socialapproaches to management, antidepressants have a powerfultreatment effect. More recently, the role of certain antidepres-sants in treating panic disorder, eating disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder has been recognized. Since the introduction of fluoxetine 12 years ago, the selectiveserotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and allied compounds havenow overtaken traditional tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) interms of market share. Although safer in overdose and with lessanticholinergic and antiadrenergic activity, evidence for bettertolerability of SSRIs is less robust, and the safety of SSRIs andrelated compounds may have been overestimated. Many arepotent enzyme inhibitors with potential for significant interac-tions with other drugs. Dystonias, akathisia, and discontinuationsyndromes have all been reported. In this Journal, Mackay et alraise awareness of another potentially serious adverse effect:serotonin syndrome (SS).
Source: Europe PMC (PubMed Central)
Authors: E Sampson, J P Warner
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1862500789