Dealing with Depression
It is a fact of life. People naturally sometimes feel sad, but this feeling should pass within a few days. If it continues after several days, interferes with normal daily activities and begins to affect the person and the people around him/her negatively, this may become a depressive disorder that needs to be treated professionally.
There is no single cause for depression. It could be a due to a combination of several factors like biochemical, environmental, genetic and psychological. One theory for the cause of depression is the imbalance of naturally occurring neurotransmitters in the brain and spinal cord - norepinephrine and serotonin.
Drugs that are used to treat depression are called antidepressants. Antidepressants bring back the normal balance of neurotransmitters. One such drug is duloxetine, a drug found to be effective in treating recurrent major depression in the elderly.
However, caution should be observed when taking duloxetine. Patients and their relatives should give information to health providers if the following symptoms are present: confusion, dark-colored urine, dizziness or fainting, flu-like symptoms, high fever, itchiness, pain in the right upper belly, stiffening of muscles and yellowish discoloration of the eyes and skin.
This information is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be used in place of an individual consultation or examination or replace the advice of your healthcare professional and should not be relied upon to determine diagnosis or course of treatment.
