Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors anxiety from

The low side effect profile, ease of use, and powerful clinical effect of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) revolutionized the treatment of depression and anxiety in the 1990s. The success of the SSRIs shifted the focus from noradrenergic to serotonergic mechanisms in these common disorders. 

The prevalence of anxiety disorders has spurred the search for pharmacological ways to treat these pathologies. To date, doctors have found that drugs from two broad classes—the benzodiazepines and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. 

Tone, Andrea. The Age of Anxiety A History of America s Turbulent Affair with Tranquilizers. New York Basic Books, 2009. This book traces the history of drugs to treat anxiety from the first tranquilizer sold in 1955 to the billions of antianxiety drugs sold today. Although tranquilizers like Valium fell out of favor because of their addictiveness, the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants have become widely popular treatments for anxiety. The book places the popularity of these types of drugs within the larger context of what Tone calls the tranquilizer culture. 

The clearest demonstration of 5-HT, receptor function which can be linked to therapeutic potential has come from the development of drugs which target the 5-HT, and 5-HT,d receptors. The 5-HT,a partial agonists such as buspirone are clinically useful in the treatment of anxiety [39]. In addition, it has been suggested that antagonists of the 5-HT,a receptor, such as pindolol, may lead to a more rapid onset of antidepressant activity when combined with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor [40]. Although this particular... 

FIGURE 69-3. Algorithm for the pharmacotherapy of social anxiety disorder. SSRI = selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, BZ = benzodiazepine. (Compiled from Ballenger et al, Van Amerigen and Mancini, and Blanco... 

HTia partial agonists), very different from those of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and the other antidepressants used to treat anxiety disorders. Buspirone does not cause sedation and has minimal or no potential for abuse or dependence, in contrast to most benzodiazepines. 

Sertraline hydrochloride (known under the trade names Zoloft and Lustral, both from Pfizer) is an antidepressant chiral drug acting as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). It is primarily used in major depression treatment and as obsessive/compulsive, panic, and social anxiety disorders. Ir-Catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of C=N bond can be employed to install a second stereogenic... 

By the 1990s antidepressants from the serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class became recognized as preferred first-line treatments for anxiety disorder subtypes, ranging from obsessive-compulsive disorder, to panic disorder, and now to social phobia and posttraumatic stress disorder (Fig. 8—9). Not all antidepressants, however, are afficacious anxiolytics. For example, desipramine and bupropion seem to be of little help in several anxiety disorder subtypes. Documentation of efficacy... 

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