Sertraline-induced hyponatremia in the elderly

Clinical implications of treating depressed older adults with SSRIs: possible risk of hyponatremia

Depression is a serious mental health problem in older adults. Some of the symptoms of depression include depressed mood, significant change in weight or appetite, changes in sleep patterns, a decrease in concentration and energy, and possible suicide. However, depression is a treatable illness, especially with the newer class of antidepressant agents, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). One side effect of SSRI use includes hyponatremia, which is becoming an increasingly serious complication that may have harmful clinical ramifications. Older adults are especially at risk for hyponatremia and could experience serious consequences if left untreated. The purpose of this article is to use an individual example to demonstrate the clinical importance of detecting hyponatremia in older adults receiving SSRI treatment.

Research on antidepressants in India

Data suggests that antidepressants are useful in the management of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, sexual dysfunction, eating disorders, impulse control disorders, enuresis, aggression and some personality disorders. Research focusing on the usefulness of antidepressants in India has more or less followed the trends seen in the West. Most of the studies conducted in India have evaluated various antidepressants in depression. In this article, we review studies conducted in India on various antidepressants. The data suggests that antidepressants have been evaluated mainly in the acute phase treatment and rare studies have evaluated the efficacy in continuation phase treatment.