Acupuncture enhances antidepressant effect of Seroxat

Acupuncture is more effective than oral antidepressants in improving depressive symptoms, and produces fewer side effects than tricyclic antidepressants. Despite the continued development of antidepressants and alternative/synergistic therapies, major depressive disorder has not been comprehensively recognized and treatment outcome is often insufficient. An epidemiological study addressing depression showed that poor recognition and treatment are largely linked to the lack of an accurate assessment tool and to patients' economic situation.

Prof. Yong Huang and team from Southern Medical University in China compared the clinical efficacy of acupuncture/electroacupuncture combined with an antidepressant drug, with that of an antidepressant drug alone, using the Symptom Checklist-90. Researchers found that administration of Seroxat alone or in combination with acupuncture/electroacupuncture can produce a significant effect in patients with primary unipolar depression. Furthermore, acupuncture/electroacupuncture has a rapid onset of therapeutic effect and produces a noticeable improvement in obsessive-compulsive, depressive and anxiety symptoms. These findings have been published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 2, 2014).

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Article: "Acupuncture/electroacupuncture enhances anti-depressant effect of Seroxat: the Symptom Checklist-90 scores " by Junqi Chen1, Weirong Lin2, Shengxu Wang3, Chongqi Wang3, Ganlong Li1, Shanshan Qu3, Yong Huang3, Zhangjin Zhang4, Wei Xiao3 (1 The Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; 2 The Shenzhen TCM hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China; 3 School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; 4 School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China)

Chen JQ, Lin WR, Wang SX, Wang CQ, Li GL, Qu SS, Huang Y, Zhang ZJ, Xiao W. Acupuncture/electroacupuncture enhances anti-depressant effect of Seroxat: the Symptom Checklist-90 scores. Neural Regen Res. 2014;9(2):213-222.