Uh-oh, here's a troubling paper: Effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on motor neuron survival.
According to Anderson et al,
Motor neurons were challenged with fluoxetine and paroxetine at clinically relevant doses ... In fluoxetine-treated motor neurons there was ~52% cell death while in paroxetine-treated cells there was 14% cell survival.... Both SSRIs decreased cell survival in a dose-dependent manner. This study is provocative enough to call for further in vivo studies.
Standard doses of fluoxetine (Prozac) and paroxetine (Paxil), two of the biggest-selling SSRI antidepressants, both had a devastating effect on the survival of mammalian nerve cells growing in a dish. Within just 24 hours, the antidepressants had caused over half the cells to expire, 85% of them in the case of Paxil. Take a look:
Oh dear. Should we be worried for the safety of the nerves of everyone taking SSRIs? I'm not, for two reasons. Reason #1 ...
