A simple aspirin could massively boost the effectiveness of anti-depressant treatments, doctors revealed yesterday.
The benefits of aspirin and other anti-inflammatory drugs have emerged from research over the last five years, the international conference of the Royal College of Psychiatrists was told.
A network called Psychiatric Research into Inflammation, Immunity and Mood Effects has now conducted trials in centres such as Brighton, Glasgow, Bristol and King’s College London, the conference heard.
The researchers say they believe long-term inflammatory conditions may be one of the key triggers of depression.
Dr Carmine Pariante, of Kings College, told the Brighton conference: "This is the first new approach to antidepressant medication for more than 20 years.
"Despite the urgent need for better drugs for this devastating and disabling disorder, we’ve only had me-too drugs since Prozac, the first SSRI was licensed."
She added: "We are considering Minocycline, a cheap, safe antibiotic that is known to dampen down inflammation.
"We hope to show that adding this drug to antidepressant medication will improve the effectiveness of SSRIs and other therapies and enable people with treatment-resistant depression to get effective help for the first time."
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