Study says acne drug [Accutane] does not cause depression [but there's still media bias]

Yahoo/Reuters ^ | May 16, 2005

[grundle]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/health_acne_dc

Study says acne drug does not cause depression

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A popular acne-fighting drug that has been linked to birth defects and is being monitored for ties to suicide did not cause depression in a group of adolescents, a study said on Monday.

Roche's Accutane, which is also sold in generic versions as isotretinoin, was given to 59 patients and their overall incidence of depression declined.

There were only a few new cases of depression that showed up among those taking the drug, about the same as in a control group receiving a more conservative acne therapy, the study published in the Archives of Dermatology said.

"The use of isotretinoin in the treatment of moderate-severe acne in adolescents did not increase depressive symptoms. On the contrary, our study shows that treatment of acne improves depressive symptoms," wrote study author Dr. Christina Chia of Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center in St. Louis.

She echoed previous arguments by the drug's manufacturer and some other researchers that acne itself could be a cause of "significant psychological stress."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is monitoring the drug to determine if it causes depression and suicide. The agency also ordered creation of a registry to ensure pregnant women, or women who may become pregnant, do not take it because of a risk of birth defects.

Accutane was one of five drugs cited by veteran FDA scientist David Graham at a congressional hearing last year as approved drugs that ought to receive closer scrutiny.

The controversy over Accutane grew out of a wrongful death lawsuit involving a young pilot who was taking the drug and crashed his small plane into a building in Tampa, Florida, in 2002.

Critics say the drug, which has been taken by millions, is overprescribed for mild acne cases.

Accutane's U.S. sales last year were $196 million on 337,000 prescriptions, about one-quarter of the 1.3 million prescriptions written for isotretinoin, according to pharmaceutical consultant IMS Health.

In the current study, 132 subjects aged between 12 and 19 were tested for depression before and three or four months after taking the drug. In the group who took the drug, the percentage found to be depressed dropped to 8 percent from 14 percent. The depression rate in the control group stayed about the same.

In an separate study published this month in the American Journal of Psychiatry, brain scans on adults taking the drug showed a decrease in brain metabolism in an area of the frontal cortex that is associated with mediating depressive symptoms.

The study concluded that the drug can cause depression in a small percentage of people and suggested screening for psychiatric disorders before it is prescribed.

[grundle]

The above article, and many past articles, are wrong about the kid who flew the airplane into the building.

This link:

http://www.fumento.com/accutane2.html

tells the following 3 things about the teenager who committed suicide by flying the airplane into the building:

#1 The autopsy and blood test showed zero trace of Accutane in the boy's body.

#2 The boy's parents had formed a suicide pact with each other.

#3 The boy was raised in a broken home.

Why does the mainstream media keep blaming his suicide on Accutane, and ignoring the real causes of his depression? Must be some kind of media bias.

I've taken Accutane 4 times for the most horrible cystic acne imaginable. The Accutane never made me depressed. But having cysts all over my body sure did. I hate that the media has been wrongly blaming that kid's suicide on Accutane.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

I also took Accutane twice for grade IV acne (awful cysts -- I was a dreadful pizza face!) and it was just a godsend. No depression at all. (Though I did get a heckuva sunburn from not paying attention to the sunburn warnings!)

[wolfpat]

I never had to take Accutane, but a friend of mine did. He said the way it works is simple. It makes your skin fall off. No skin, no acne. (He was peeling at the time.)

[beandog]

Both of my sons took accutance. Neither were depressed, in fact, both were quite happy not only to be taking it but with the end results. I think they were both more depressed before the drug.

[llama hunter]

Accutane is the god send of dermatology, I only needed one course for horrible cystic acne, that plagued me for 10 years, and only after all other treatments had failed

it should not be used for mild acne, it should be used for cystic acne

the way it works is that it permanently changes the production of oil from your sebaceous glands which is what causes the cystic acne

my poor dermatologist, I was the only patient she ever had that not only didn't get dry scabby skin, I needed to have the dosage upped in the 3rd month of the 5 month course,
my skin felt normal for the first time since puberty!!! this at age 26....I suffered no noticable mood change except the natural elation at having my skin clear up!


I had been treated by antibiotics before, not good in retrospect, and I developed an allergy to the one, tolerance to the other so I researched Accutane before asking the doctor, I saw the photos of deformed fetuses but I also saw that Accutane cures all these horrible skin diseases that most of us have never seen or heard of...

when I went to the doctor it was hammered into your head that you could not be pregnant and must not get pregnant whilst on Accutane, it was on the bottle, on the package, in the literature, the doctor would repeat it, I had to sign about two or three waivers, so there is no excuse....this was back in 1986....

[Luke]

My 17 year old grandson has been using Accutane for about a year now and he is anything but depressed. He has a social life now ...and if I say so myself he is a fine looking lad.

[Blood of Tyrants]

My son had acne really bad and the Accutane cured it right up and it didn't come back.

[Wage Slave]

My son has been on it for three months. It completely cleared up the acne within the first month, but he has to continue for the full five-month course. Although I am ambivalent about putting chemicals into his body, the benefits do seem to outweigh the risks in this case. Monthly blood draws are, of course, part of the deal.

[grundle]

Thanks for your responses everyone!