Example: Atomoxetine is believed to increase norepinephrine in the brain, to treat ADHD. What do you mean, believed? Then how was it successfully developed to do that in the first place, if the mechanisms of action to effect that change are not known?
Apparently this is not uncommon in medication. How is this possible?
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I guess it depends on what you mean by work. There are a few key neurotransmitters in the brain that will make people feel and act different when you change those levels in the brain.
So lets consider depression as the example. We know stuff like serotonin can make people more satisfied. So maybe increasing serotonin levels will help with depression. It’s kind of a blunt force tool that has some beneficial outcomes. But it’s not really fixing the underlying problem.
>In short, there exists no rigorous corroboration of the serotonin theory, and a significant body of contradictory evidence
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>The impact of the widespread promotion of the serotonin hypothesis should not be underestimated. Antidepressant advertisements are ubiquitous in American media, and there is emerging evidence that these advertisements have the potential to confound the doctor–patient relationship.
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>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277931/
Stuff like SSRIs blunt all emotional feeling in many users. It will result in people losing their libido, etc.
So think of these drugs like painkillers. We have studies knowing they blunt pain, but they aren’t fixing any underlying issue or chemical imbalance.
Basically we are playing around in the dark seeing what works or not.
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