Could a simple aspirin help with depression?

A study recently published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry claims that anti-inflammatory medication like aspirin and ibuprofen are effective against severe depression. Is this new hope for sufferers?

Severe depression is difficult to treat. Despite there being many diverse medications and psychological therapies available today, around 3 in 10 cases are resistant to any treatment.

Sufferers from depression do have one thing in common, though – they often have high inflammatory markers. Starting from this finding, researchers at the University of Wuhan, China, conducted a meta-analysis assessing the efficacy and safety of anti-inflammatory drugs in severely depressed patients.

According to their results, both aspirin and ibuprofen had a positive impact on the patients’ depression, while their adverse effects were similar to those of the placebo. Further studies are still necessary, however, to test this hypothesis over the long term.

1 Efficacy and safety of anti-inflammatory agents for the treatment of major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Huang Bai1, Wenliang Guo2, Yangyang Feng, et al. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.