Postpartum depression tablet

At the end of last week, the Office for the quality of food and medicine for the USA (FDA) approved the first oral medicine for the treatment of postpartum depression.

About 8.9–10.1 % of women in countries with a high income and 17.8–19.7 % of women in countries with low and average income countries suffer from postpartum depression. Women feel severe sadness, anxiety, a breakdown. They are also characterized by isolation, bouts of crying, irritability, changes in sleep and nutrition, and even a tendency to suicide. Although the exact cause of postpartum depression is unclear, it is believed that it causes a combination of physical, emotional, genetic and social factors. Factors such as hormonal changes and lack of sleep may include them. Although many women experience a short period of anxiety or sadness after childbirth, postpartum depression is diagnosed if the symptoms are severe and lasts more than two weeks. The severe form of postpartum depression - postpartum psychosis - is found in one or two women per thousand.

Earlier there were no oral funds from postpartum depression. Since 2019, the USA has been used in the USA, which had to be introduced within 60 hours through a dropper in a doctor’s office or in a hospital. The high cost (about $ 34,000), as well as the time spent, especially difficult for the mother who takes care of the child, made this medicine unpopular. At the moment, only about a thousand patients have taken the drug. Approximately 400,000 women per year in the United States turn to total antidepressants, therapy, advice and other mental health funds to find help with postpartum depression. But the general antidepressants in this case are good, since they can only begin to act after a few weeks.

A new medicine called Zuranolon was developed jointly by Sage Therapeutics and Biogen. It will be sold under the Zurzuvae brand. According to the doctor’s prescription, people suffering from postpartum depression will take pills once a day for two weeks. The medicine should become available about three months after its legalization approves the control of drugs. Manufacturers have not yet disclosed the cost of the drug.

“Postpartum depression is a serious and potentially life -threatening condition in which women experience sadness, guilt, uselessness and even, in severe cases, thoughts about causing harm to themselves or their child,” says Tiffany Farcione, director of the psychiatry department of the FDA assessment and study of drugs. “And since postpartum depression can destroy the connection of the mother and child, it can also have consequences for the physical and emotional development of the child.”

Both the new tablet and the intravenous drug contain a synthetic version of all -pregent, a chemical substance, which is naturally found in the body. During pregnancy, the level of all -pregent to increase, but then drops sharply after the birth of the child. Scientists say this sudden fall can contribute to postpartum depression.

In clinical trials, women who took pills experienced more relief of symptoms compared to those who took placebo: immediately after 14 days of treatment, 57 % of those taking the medicine, they reported 50 or more percent, while only 38 % were among the placebo ones.