Some of the oldest antidepressants – known as tricyclics – dramatically increase the risk of heart disease, researchers have discovered this week, 50 years after the drugs were first prescribed.
The drugs increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by an alarming 35 per cent, scientists from University College London have discovered after reviewing the health profiles of 14,784 people taking an antidepressant, including a tricyclic or one of the newer generation of SSRIs . In eight years of follow-up, 1,434 in the study group developed heart disease, and 375 of these died.
SSRIs did not cause heart problems, the researchers say.
(Source: European Heart Journal, December 1, 2010; doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/.ehq438).
