August 7, 2003
FaxWatch Inc.
Multiple sclerosis patients experienced a reduction in the severity
of fatigue symptoms after undergoing treatment for depression, according
to research published the July/August edition of Psychosomatic Medicine.
Furthermore, investigators mainly associate this finding with treatment-related changes in mood.
The study involved 60 patients who had a relapsing form of MS and moderate to severe depression.
Investigators assigned the patients to one of three depression treatments, which included either individual behavioral therapy, group therapy, or treatment with Pfizer Inc.'s antidepressant drug Zoloft (sertraline).
All depression treatments lasted 16 weeks. The patients were measured for symptoms of fatigue and depression at the study's begining and again when the trial ended.
The study revealed that fatigue symptoms were reduced significantly throughout the course of depression treatment in MS patients.
The association between treatment for depression and symptoms of fatigue
in MS patients were entirely a result of a change in mood, the study authors
noted.
Copyright © 2003, FWI