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By Steven P. Levine. “Everything old is new again.” So sang Peter Allen in 1974, and so any student of medical history will surely find to be true, given that many of the “newest” discoveries are medicines and procedures that have either been previously “discovered” and then discarded, or dusted off and then re-purposed.

Those suffering from treatment-resistant depression — a major depressive disorder that hasn’t responded to at least two treatments — will be glad to know there are some forward-thinking researchers who have remembered to look back.

Per the landmark Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study, up to one-third of people with major depression may not respond to multiple antidepressant treatment attempts. These patients suffer severe emotional, social, economic, and medical consequences, and they are at a high risk of suicide. Read more »