New Pill for Postpartum Depression Shows Promising Results

• Postpartum depression could soon have a miracle cure in the form of a pill.
• Clinical trials have shown that daily treatment significantly lowered symptoms of depression.
• The treatment also helped women struggling with clinical depression go into full remission after 45 days of clinical trials.

About one in eight women in the United States is affected by postpartum depression (PPD), according to The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. In spite of this, it remains to be underdiagnosed and undertreated.

The illness could be triggered during and after pregnancy partly because of “a disruption in the normal interaction between the nervous system’s stress response, ɣ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) signaling, and neuroactive steroids (NAS).”

This causes new moms to struggle with their mental health just when they have become a caretaker for another life.

The currently available treatments are prescribed anti-depressants — and new moms can go through months of trial and error before finding the treatment that works for them. Only one drug outside antidepressants is FDA-approved to treat PPD, but it’s hard to get.

Now, a new drug is being touted as a miracle cure for PPD thanks to its promising trial results.

The new experimental drug works differently from the usual anti-depressant. It is actually an oral neuroactive steroid called zuranolone (30mg). According to researchers, it can also help reduce depressive symptoms in women — and it works fast.

The researchers stated in a press release: “After two weeks of daily treatment, women treated with zuranolone had a statistically significant reduction in their core symptoms of depression compared to women who received a placebo.” Also, “more than half of the women enrolled went into FULL REMISSION of their clinical depression by the end of the 45 day trial period.”

One of the trial participants recounted her experience: “I didn’t feel a connection to the baby — but knew I had to do the trial. I had to force myself. Afterwards, I realized that I am not a bad mom.”

Dr. Deligiannidis, lead study author and director of Women’s Behavioral Health at Zucker Hillside Hospital, said that the encouraging results offer a start in treating PPD, which “negatively impacts women, their families, and is often underdiagnosed and undertreated.”

While this treatment isn’t available from medical providers just yet, the promising trial results take it one step closer to a landmark FDA approval.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry.

Source: Yahoo! News