MEDICATION IS not always the best treatment for anxiety-related illnesses which have become a significant health issue, an international neuroscience conference at NUI Galway (NUIG) has heard.
Research carried out at the University of Bristol suggests that prescribing anti-depressants and benzodiazepines for such conditions is not always the most suitable option.
Speaking at Neuroscience Ireland's second annual conference on the psychopharmacology of psychiatric disorders, Prof David Nutt said anxiety was a very serious problem and neuroscience was making "real progress".
Anxiety-related diseases include Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis. Three of the main anxiety disorders are among 20 key disability conditions worldwide.
Trials conducted by a Bristol University research team involved enlisting volunteers who agreed to expose themselves to panic attacks in a bid to devise more effective treatments.
The trials, supervised by Prof Nutt, involved applying controlled doses of carbon dioxide to the candidates to simulate situations which might cause anxiety.
The volunteers were then given new drugs, the impact of which was monitored by the research team. "Very good progress" was being recorded, said Prof Nutt.
Leading neuroscientists, post-doctoral researchers and graduate students from all over Ireland, Britain and Europe are attending the two-day conference at NUIG, which is being hosted by Neuroscience Ireland. Neuroscience Ireland was established to advance research and education in the neurosciences in Ireland.
"Neuroscience is an emerging discipline of great strength in Ireland," Dr Karen Doyle, lecturer in the NUIG's physiology department and head of the neuroscience cluster within the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science said. "The main themes of this conference reflect areas of research strength within NUIG and Ireland as a whole."
Such areas include the mechanisms of cell death in neurons, which may underpin the development of devastating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Strategies to promote regeneration of neurons, which may assist in the discovery of new therapies, are also being examined at the conference. The link between glial cells and the development of multiple sclerosis, and the challenge of pain management and control are among issues being explored.
