Creatine Supplements May Speed Up Response to Escitalopram, Improve Brain Connectivity
Antidepressants can take weeks to begin working, and researchers have been investigating ways to speed up this process. A 2012 study by In Kyoon Lyoo and colleagues in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that among 52 women taking the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant escitalopram (Lexapro) for unipolar depression, those who were prescribed an additional creatine supplement had earlier and greater decreases in depression symptoms than those who received a placebo in addition to the escitalopram.
The difference between the two groups was evident by the second week of treatment. At the end of the 8-week study, 52% of those who received creatine had achieved remission, compared to 26% of those in the placebo group.
Creatine, a supplement sometimes used by weightlifters, increases cellular energy. The women received 3g/day of creatine for the first week of the study, and 5g/day thereafter.
The same research group recently published more data from their creatine study. The new article by Sujung Yoon and colleagues in the journal Biological Psychiatry shows that following the creatine supplementation, the women in the creatine group had greater levels of N-acetylaspartate (a sign of healthy neurons) in their prefrontal cortex and also had greater levels of brain connectivity than women in the placebo group.
