The drug will be sold under the brand name Zurzuvae and will be taken once a day for 14 days
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the green light for the drug zuranolone to treat postpartum depression, a serious mental illness that can occur in about 1 in 7 new mothers after giving birth. The drug will be sold under the brand name Zurzuvae and will be taken once a day for 14 days.
“Access to a prescription medication will be a beneficial option for many of these mothers who experience extreme, and sometimes life-threatening, emotions,” said Dr. Tiffany Farcione, the FDA’s director of psychiatric drugs, in a statement.
“Postpartum depression is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition in which women experience sadness, guilt, worthlessness – even, in severe cases, thoughts of harming themselves or their child. And, because postpartum depression can disrupt the mother-infant bond, it can also have consequences for the child’s physical and emotional development,” explained Farcione, director of the division of psychiatry at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
According to the FDA, the drug can affect the ability to drive and operate machinery, and for this reason, the agency recommends that patients not drive or operate heavy machinery for at least 12 hours after taking the drug, while asserting that the most common side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, diarrhoea, fatigue, nasopharyngitis (common cold) and urinary tract infection. The agency also said that use of the drug can cause suicidal thoughts and behavior and even cause harm to the fetus. According to the agency, women should use effective contraception while taking and for one week after taking the drug.
The approval of this drug is an important milestone for the treatment of postpartum depression, especially because it has a new biological target and is fast-acting, said Kathryn Monk, professor and chief of women’s mental health in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Vagelos College of Physicians. and Surgeons of Columbia University.
But she added that some mental health experts have raised concerns about the drug, noting that zuranolone was initially tested mostly in women with severe postpartum depression, not mild or moderate depression.
“There is concern that this drug will be used by everyone, whereas for people with mild to moderate depression, the gold standard of care is to start psychotherapy and make some lifestyle changes,” Monk said, adding that the pill it should not be the first response for patients with mild to moderate postpartum depression.
“It needs to be made clear that it is effective mainly in people with severe depression. Also, there are significant disparities in rates of postpartum depression. Rates are much higher for women living in poverty and for minority populations,” the scientist concluded, according to CNN.
Source:newsbeast
