Older Antidepressants May Be Better for Parkinson's Patients

For Parkinson's disease patients with depression, an older tricyclic antidepressant outperformed a newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, one of a class that is commonly prescribed, according to researchers here.

In a randomized trial, the older tricyclic antidepressant, nortriptyline, significantly improved symptoms of depression after eight weeks compared with placebo (P<0.002) Matthew Menza, M.D., of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School here, and colleagues reported online in Neurology. A newer SSRI, paroxetine CR, did not (P=0.165) help.

The percentage of patients who had at least a 50% reduction in their depression symptoms was significantly higher in those taking nortriptyline than in those taking paroxetine CR (53% versus 11%, P=0.034).

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