The United States may soon market a pill against postpartum depression
According to the WHO, almost 1 in 5 women experiences postpartum depression but, in addition to still being taboo, there are no quick cures to fight it. However, the United States could soon give the green light to the first pill designed for this disease. All the details
It is difficult to estimate how many women experience postpartum depression. Stigma, shame and guilt only give approximate figures, but it is a widespread silent evil that is still too difficult to talk about.
A small light, however, can be glimpsed. In fact, the first pill that fights this scourge could soon be available. This was announced by its producers Sage Therapeutics and Biogen.
DATA AVAILABLE
Epidemiological studies, reported by the Ministry of Health and conducted in different countries and cultures, report that postpartum depression affects, with different levels of severity, from 7 to 12% of new mothers and generally begins between the 6th and 12th week after birth child, with episodes typically lasting 2 to 6 months.
There are even between 70 and 80% of women who experience a slight postpartum depression, called baby blues , which usually appears 2-3 days after giving birth but tends to go away spontaneously within a few days; while on 10-15% of those who experience a real state of depression it is essential to intervene because, among untreated mothers, 50% are still depressed after 6 months and 25% still after 1 year.
The World Health Organization (WHO), in addition to stating that almost 1 in 5 women experiences postpartum depression, adds that about 20% of these come to have suicidal thoughts or to perform acts of self-harm. For this reason, it has launched new guidelines for the integration of perinatal mental health into maternal and child health services.
THE NEW POST-PARTUM ANTI DEPRESSION DRUG
The pill against postpartum depression, produced by Sage Therapeutics and Biogen, is called zuranolone and the Food and Drug Administration (Fda) has accepted the filing of the application for registration of the drug, which has also granted priority review for the treatment of major depressive disorder.
Unlike the only other drug available – whose name is zulresso and which must be administered intravenously continuously for 60 hours – zuranolone is an antidepressant that patients only need to take once a day for 14 days.
Zuranolone, explain the pharmaceutical companies, acts on brain networks responsible for functions such as mood, arousal, behavior and cognition.
WHEN WILL IT BE AVAILABLE
The expected arrival date for the release should be by August 6th.
“We feel a huge responsibility to patients suffering from major depressive disorder and postpartum depression to offer a potentially new treatment option, which is desperately needed. Most currently approved therapies can take weeks or months to work,” said Laura Gault, Chief Medical Officer of Sage Therapeutics.
STUDIES AND RESULTS
The phase III study found that women with postpartum depression treated with zuranolone 50 mg every day for two weeks “showed a statistically and clinically significant improvement in depressive symptoms on day 15” compared to those who received a placebo.
Additional secondary endpoints also showed evidence of the potential impact of zuranolone on the reduction of other symptoms related to postpartum depression, including anxiety.
The drug was generally well tolerated. The most common adverse events were somnolence, dizziness, headache, diarrhea, nausea, urinary tract infection and COVID-19.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/gli-stati-uniti-potrebbero-presto-commercializzare-una-pillola-contro-la-depressione-post-partum/ on Fri, 10 Feb 2023 14:57:31 +0000.