Study: Prozac is a multi-use drug; helps in stroke recovery too
January 11th, 2011 - 9:51 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattParis, Jan 11 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A new study claims that the drug, Prozac which is widely used as antidepressants can also potentially aid in the recovery of patients with mild to severe stroke.
The good news is that, if the study is proven, doctors can prescribe the drug “off-label”. This means that even though the FDA did not approve the drug for stroke treatment, doctors can still legally prescribe it because of its dual duty nature.
The only restriction is that the manufacturers of these dual role drugs cannot advertise the drugs based on the additional benefits that the drug was not registered for.
The study was carried out by French researchers and the findings of the study were published in the journal, Lancet.
The study researchers examined 118 stroke patients. The patients were all treated at about 9 different hospitals and some of them were given tablets containing the active ingredient found in Prozac, fluoxetine and another tablet that contains only placebo. The treated lasted three months and commenced just ten days after the commencement of the stroke.
After the period, it was realized that those that were given the tablet containing the fluoxetine showed 40 percent improved motor function.
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Tags: active ingredient, antidepressants, commencement, doctors, drug prozac, dual duty, dual role, fda, fluoxetine, french researchers, hospitals, journal lancet, placebo, prozac, restriction, stroke patients, stroke recovery, stroke treatment, study researchers, three months