Depression Pills May Aid Anxiety in Elderly

Common pills for depression may help older adults with anxiety, a study finds. Now, older adults usually are given sedatives for anxiety. The study included 177 adults, age 60 or older. All of them had generalized anxiety disorder. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group took escitalopram (Lexapro). The other group took a placebo (sugar pill) that looked the same. After 12 weeks, more than two-thirds of those taking escitalopram felt better. About half of those taking the placebo felt better. The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association. HealthDay News and Reuters News Service wrote about it January 20.