For the first time in history, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a drug specifically indicated for the treatment of postpartum depression. According to experts, she will be able to help all women affected by the problem but wouldn't it be better to support them in another way in the difficult task of being a new mother?
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For the first time in history, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a drug specifically indicated for the treatment of postpartum depression. According to experts, she will be able to help all women affected by the problem but wouldn't it be better to support them in another way in the difficult task of being a new mother?
On Tuesday the FDA announced the approval of an intravenous infusion of the drug brexanolone, which will be sold under the name of Zulresso. Clinical studies have shown that it works within hours to treat the symptoms of postpartum depression, a serious and complex mental illness that affects one in nine mothers soon after giving birth.
Specifically, the study, funded by the same company that produces the drug, was conducted in 2016-2017 on more than 200 women who presented symptoms of postpartum depression, evaluated using standardized search scales. The women were followed for more than 30 days.
One group of participants was given 60-hour intravenous drips with more or less high doses of brexanolone inside, while others were given a placebo. The researchers found that the women who received the brexanolone infusions showed "significant and clinically significant" reductions in their scores for depression.
In the first study, by the end of 60 hours, the mean reduction was 19,5 points in the group that received lower doses of the drug and 17,7 points in the group that received higher doses, compared with 14 points. of the placebo group. Overall, at 60 hours, approximately 75% of the women given brexanolone had improved by at least 50% of their initial symptoms and approximately half of the women were no longer clinically depressed. Of the patients who had responded at 60 hours, 94% had not experienced a relapse at 30 days.
The treatment comes given as a single drip (but lasting 60 hours!) not free from side effects (considered mild) such as headache, dizziness or excessive sleepiness.
Many women may not easily access this treatment not only for the duration of the drip but also because it is estimated to cost between $ 20.000 and $ 35.000 per treatment, said Sage Therapeutics, the company that developed the drug.
The medicine will be available in June and only through a limited program called the Zulresso Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) which requires the medicine to be administered by a healthcare professional in a certified healthcare facility.
There is talk of a step forward but it does not seem like that to us and not only for the fact that it is a drug and because of the costs, but also because it is thought to solve and reduce in this way the complex psychological world of a new mother who probably feels inadequate for her role and abandoned by the society that does not he understands her mood and forces her to smile.
Postpartum depression is a complex problem that has roots not only in the mind but also in the environment in which the woman lives, often not helped and supported by her partner and family. It would not be better to focus on something that has a more lasting effect than a drug, or on a network that can help new mothers to better face their role, not feeling judged and having the opportunity to reveal to professionals who can also help them. their blackest thoughts?
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