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Skin Patch Said to Fight Depression

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From Associated Press

Depressed people who got an antidepressant through a skin patch showed unusually fast relief, a researcher says.

The effect was apparent one week into a study, while antidepressants generally require two weeks or more to take effect, said researcher Dr. Alexander Bodkin of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. A one-week response is unusual but not unheard of in antidepressant studies, he said.

Prior studies have shown that antidepressants work faster if injected than if swallowed, Bodkin said.

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He stressed that the new findings are only preliminary and must be duplicated in another study, which has already begun. Bodkin said in a telephone interview that he hasn’t formally reported the result or written it up yet for a journal. The study was financed by the drug’s manufacturer.

Participants put on a new patch every day. Eighty-nine participants wore patches containing the drug Eldepryl, which is approved in the United States for treating Parkinson’s disease but is also sometimes used for depression. Eighty-eight others wore patches without any drug.

At one week, and generally throughout the six-week study, people wearing the drug-containing patch showed about 50% more improvement than the other participants, Bodkin said. There was no difference in reported side effects, he said.

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