Since the U.S. Food and Drug Agency (FDA) warned in 2008 the increase of suicides associated with the use of antiepileptic drugs, the debate about the veracity of this phenomenon has not ceased. A Spanish research now joins the voices that defend the safety of these drugs. Their findings show that can be used safely in epileptic patients.
Following a clinical trial indicating that AEDs increased suicidal thoughts and actions, the FDA decided to include a warning (called 'black box' in English) in the listing of these drugs. However, "a measure was considered not entirely proven, that needed to be endorsed in a population of users of these drugs," explained one of the authors, Alejandro Arana, MR cabinet Pharmacovigilance Risk Services (based in Zaragoza).
"That's what we have done in this study," added José Luis Ayuso, Department of Psychiatry at the Autonomous University of Madrid, who also signs the job. Clinical trials, explains both, have the disadvantage that the population analyzed that meet certain criteria and follow-up period is short.
AEDs don´t increase the risk of suicide
To overcome these obstacles, the researchers obtained information from a database of British patients and analyzed the correlation between suicide attempts-consummated or not, and the use of antiepileptic drugs in people with epilepsy, depression, bipolar disorder or any of these three diseases.
Although the absolute numbers indicating a higher incidence of these episodes among those taking antiepileptic drugs, when the authors eliminated confounding factors, the risk was higher in epileptic patients not taking this medication, as reflected in the journal The New England Journal of Medicine.
As for people with depression or bipolar disorder, "noted an increased risk of suicide, but we can not know if it is for AEDs or the underlying disease," said Arana. Their analysis "suggests that the disease is more important than drugs," they explain in the pages of the magazine.
"In general," say the authors, our results confirm the findings reported by the FDA and reaffirm the safety of antiepileptic drugs, which are using more than 100 years, "added
To overcome these obstacles, the researchers obtained information from a database of British patients and analyzed the correlation between suicide attempts-consummated or not, and the use of antiepileptic drugs in people with epilepsy, depression, bipolar disorder or any of these three diseases.
Although the absolute numbers indicating a higher incidence of these episodes among those taking antiepileptic drugs, when the authors eliminated confounding factors, the risk was higher in epileptic patients not taking this medication, as reflected in the journal The New England Journal of Medicine.
As for people with depression or bipolar disorder, "noted an increased risk of suicide, but we can not know if it is for AEDs or the underlying disease," said Arana. Their analysis "suggests that the disease is more important than drugs," they explain in the pages of the magazine.
"In general," say the authors, our results confirm the findings reported by the FDA and reaffirm the safety of antiepileptic drugs, which are using more than 100 years, "added
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