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by cryoshon
3924 days ago
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An uber simplified version of the monoamine hypothesis is exactly how these drugs are marketed people today, and you know it-- just watch the TV commercials advertising SSRIs and it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that they are pitching the monoamine hypothesis as correct and understood to an ignorant public. I think it's fair to say researchers are still operating loosely within the framework of monoamine imbalance, given the predilection of pharmas to releasing new drugs which operate via modulation of monoamines rather any other action. Paradoxically if they were stepping away from the monoamine hypothesis, they would produce polymonoamine regulatory drugs which would more subtly manipulate multiple monoamines in order to get the desired modulation of maloperating neural circuits, the target du jour. I guess we have to disagree on the science here regarding your last point... the therapeutic effects of SSRIs are certainly (100% with no wiggle room, a settled fact) a result of subtle neural circuit modulation to get therapeutic effect via monoamines. |
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> Paradoxically if they were stepping away from the monoamine hypothesis, they would produce polymonoamine regulatory drugs which would more subtly manipulate multiple monoamines in order to get the desired modulation of maloperating neural circuits, the target du jour.
The suggestion that pharmaceutical companies aren't exploring other pathways has never been more wrong, as we have quite a few very novel compounds in the pipeline that operate through very different pathways. Search for my other comment in this thread where I listed several of the other pathways and medications being explored.
Furthermore, I'm confused by your simultaneous dismissal of the monoamine hypothesis and insistence that "polymonoamine" drugs are the way to go, which isn't compatible with your assertion that the monoamine hypothesis is false. For what it's worth, there are several drugs in the pipeline that work through different combinations of monoaminergic pathways, but the most promising developments are actually in drugs that don't work through monoaminergic pathways at all (e.g. NSI-189, GABA-A5 antagonists, and so on.)