Fluvoxamine vs. Placebo

Research Paper # 100453

Literature
Medical and Health > Drugs
Medical and Health > Pharmacy

A comparative analysis of articles on the use of fluvoxamine versus the use of a placebo.

1,969 words () | 3 sources | APA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper provides a review of three articles related to the use of fluvoxamine or controlled-release fluvoxamine and the use of a placebo for generalized social anxiety disorder (GASD) and for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A third article is a literature review that details the efficacy of placebos for dopaminergic disorders and emphasizes the strong biochemical basis for the use of placebos. The first two articles are compared in a formal comparison and then both are contrasted against the third.

From the Paper:

"In order to gain the most knowledge one can from reading published research one must assess the work beyond the normal article critique in order to glean the greatest benefits and applicable knowledge. Primarily when working in the field, often one has to compare the relative merits of the published work in relation to other published work on the same topic. This paper presents a classic comparison between two articles and then contrasts both with a third. Each deal with the use of a placebo either studying the efficacy of fluvoxamine compared to a placebo or reporting on the physiological/neurological basis for the efficacy seen in studies where placebos are used."

Sample of Sources Used:

de la Fuente-Fernandez, R., Schutzer, M. & Stoessl, A. J. (2002). The placebo effect in neurological disorders. The Lancet Neurology, 1, 85-91.
Rufer, M., Hand, I., Alsleben, H., Braatz, A., Ortmann, J., Katenhamp, B., Fricke, S. & Peter, H. (2004). Long-term course and outcome of obsessive-compulsive patients after cognitive-behavioral therapy in combination with either fluvoxamine or placebo. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 255, 121-128.
Westenberg, H. G. M., Stein, D. J., Yang, H., Li, D. & Barbato, L. M. (2004). A double-blind placebo-controlled study of controlled release fluvoxamine for the treatment of generalized social anxiety disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 24, 49 - 55.