For people with depression, using "bright light therapy" either alone or combined with an antidepressant might help treat their condition, a new study suggests.
In the eight-week study of 122 people with major depression, the researchers found that people who were treated with either a bright light box or a combination of light box therapy with an antidepressant drug experienced more improvement in their symptoms than people treated with a placebo.
In comparison, those treated with an antidepressant drug (without light therapy) did not show improvements over those taking only a placebo pill.
"It is not unusual that an antidepressant — or any treatment [for depression] actually — is not statistically better than placebo," said study author Dr. Raymond W. Lam, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
It is commonly known that people with depression who participate in clinical trials get better even with only a placebo, he said. It's possible that the contact with the treatment team and regular appointments that come with being part of a trial help people with the condition, he said.
"So the fact that, in our study, the light treatments did better than placebo even when the Prozac did not really indicates than the effect was large," Lam said, according to media reports. -amh
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