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SSRIs Reduce Depression, But Do They Save Lives?

Alexander H. Glassman, MD; J. Thomas Bigger, Jr, MD

JAMA. 2007;297:411-412.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In this issue of JAMA, Lespérance et al¹ report the results of the Canadian Cardiac Randomized Evaluation of Antidepressant and Psychotherapy Efficacy (CREATE) trial, a blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial testing the efficacy of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram and interpersonal psychotherapy in 284 patients with major depressive disorder. The efficacy of citalopram² and interpersonal psychotherapy³ in the treatment of major depression in patients primarily free of coronary heart disease (CHD) is well documented. The clinical importance of CREATE is that it involved patients with comorbid CHD. Depression is a painful, functionally impairing, and frequently recurrent condition that in patients with either coronary or cerebral vascular disease also significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. A recent report found 17 studies indicating that depression following a coronary event was associated with a 3-fold increase in cardiac . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: Department of Clinical Psychopharmacology, New York State Psychiatric Institute (Dr Glassman) and Departments of Psychiatry (Dr Glassman) and Medicine and Pharmacology (Dr Bigger), Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York.

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