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American Morning
'House Call'
Aired December 23, 2003 - 09:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Safe to say that almost everybody gets a little anxious at some time or another. But generalized anxiety disorder is considerably more serious. It is the most common mental illness in the United States. Now, though regulators are OK'ing a new treatment for it, and joining us this morning with details from the CNN Center is Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Good morning, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Yes, yet another new treatment out there for generalized anxiety disorder. Most people have heard of a lot of the existing medications out there, but you can now add Lexapro to the list of medications used to treat generalized anxiety disorder. And as you mentioned, Soledad, everyone does get anxious from time to time, even you perhaps, Soledad. But generalized anxiety disorder is a much more serious condition, affecting about 4 million Americans. Anxiety disorders cost about $4.2 billion in lost work days, and treatments and things like that to the U.S. as a whole. So there's all sorts of different medications out there. Now Lexapro, add to the list as well. This is a medication basically when you think about generalized anxiety disorder, you think about not only feeling a little anxious, but muscle tension, nausea, you can have gastrointestinal intestinal discomfort, cold, clammy hands.
Some of those things again, people can get at any given time, but if they last for longer than six months, if you're getting it more often than not for six months, it may be time to seek treatment. Lexapro is a medication that's been out there for some time for the treatment of depression, but just now approved for generalized anxiety disorder. Basically, in a nutshell, a study was done, looking at about 850 people from ages 18 to 80, all with true generalized anxiety disorder. They were placed on Lexapro versus a placebo, and they found 70 percent of the people improved significant quality of life improvement on this medication versus the placebo alone -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay, quick question for you, how does Lexapro compare to other antianxiety drugs that are out there already?
GUPTA: Well, it's interesting. Because there are a lot of anxiety medications out there. Important point, when you're talking about these sorts of medications, there are medications out there that work great for some people, and some that don't work at all for other people. The reason there are so many different medications out there for the treatment of this, is because a lot of times people will try various medications. For instance, Paxil may work for a while, but then it may stop working. And it may be time to switch to another medication. Lexapro is going to be yet another tool in that fight against anxiety.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 23, 2003 - 09:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Safe to say that almost everybody gets a little anxious at some time or another. But generalized anxiety disorder is considerably more serious. It is the most common mental illness in the United States. Now, though regulators are OK'ing a new treatment for it, and joining us this morning with details from the CNN Center is Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Good morning, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Yes, yet another new treatment out there for generalized anxiety disorder. Most people have heard of a lot of the existing medications out there, but you can now add Lexapro to the list of medications used to treat generalized anxiety disorder. And as you mentioned, Soledad, everyone does get anxious from time to time, even you perhaps, Soledad. But generalized anxiety disorder is a much more serious condition, affecting about 4 million Americans. Anxiety disorders cost about $4.2 billion in lost work days, and treatments and things like that to the U.S. as a whole. So there's all sorts of different medications out there. Now Lexapro, add to the list as well. This is a medication basically when you think about generalized anxiety disorder, you think about not only feeling a little anxious, but muscle tension, nausea, you can have gastrointestinal intestinal discomfort, cold, clammy hands.
Some of those things again, people can get at any given time, but if they last for longer than six months, if you're getting it more often than not for six months, it may be time to seek treatment. Lexapro is a medication that's been out there for some time for the treatment of depression, but just now approved for generalized anxiety disorder. Basically, in a nutshell, a study was done, looking at about 850 people from ages 18 to 80, all with true generalized anxiety disorder. They were placed on Lexapro versus a placebo, and they found 70 percent of the people improved significant quality of life improvement on this medication versus the placebo alone -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay, quick question for you, how does Lexapro compare to other antianxiety drugs that are out there already?
GUPTA: Well, it's interesting. Because there are a lot of anxiety medications out there. Important point, when you're talking about these sorts of medications, there are medications out there that work great for some people, and some that don't work at all for other people. The reason there are so many different medications out there for the treatment of this, is because a lot of times people will try various medications. For instance, Paxil may work for a while, but then it may stop working. And it may be time to switch to another medication. Lexapro is going to be yet another tool in that fight against anxiety.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
