Patients with social phobia benefit from long-term treatment with sert...( ed social phobia who typically have be...),Health

Sertraline is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and works by interfering with the body's recycling of serotonin, a naturally occurring chemical that nerve cells need to transmit electrical signals between them. Such neurotransmitters and signals play an important role in the brain's chemistry and control of moods, thoughts, feelings and sleep patterns, among other behaviors. Serotonin is critical in regulating the brain's control of anxiety, depression and aggression. For a person whose serotonin recycling is not balanced, sertraline can increase the availability of serotonin to help the brain regain control, according to Van Ameringen.

For this 24-week relapse prevention trial, investigators at 10 outpatient anxiety clinics in Canada enrolled 65 patients. All of the study participants were patients whose response to therapy was rated as "much improved" or "very improved" on the investigator-assessed Clinical Global Impression of Improvement (CGI-I) score during a previous 20-week placebo-controlled study that compared therapy with sertraline to placebo. The two studies combined followed patients through their treatment with sertraline or placebo for a total of 44 weeks.

At the beginning of the 24-week continuation study, investigators randomly assigned 50 patients who received sertraline during the initial trial to either continue sertraline (N=25) or switch to placebo (N=25). Neither the investigators nor the patients knew to which therapy the participants were assigned until the end of the trial.

The patients receiving sertraline comprised the sertraline-continuation group, and the patients who took placebo were in the placebo-switch group. An
'"/>

Contact: Lena-Montecalvo
905-521-2100 x76066
Porter Novelli
15-May-2000