Taking antidepressants? Then keep a close eye on your heart health if you’re a longtime user.
The drugs can increase the risk of sudden cardiac death, and the chances increase with the amount of time you’ve been taking them.
People taking antidepressants for between one and five years have a 50 percent increased risk of dying from a heart problem, and this doubles for those taking the drugs longer.
Researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark analyzed deaths in the country in 2010 and found that 6,002 were the result of sudden cardiac arrest, and one-third of these were taking antidepressants.
Surprisingly, the risk was greatest in the 30 to 39-year-olds who had triple the risk if they were taking antidepressants for between one and five years, and that risk rose to five times if they were on the drugs for more than six years.
It’s already known that antidepressants can cause heart problems—but then so too can depression itself.
Alarming though the figures are, it’s important to understand that the researchers are looking at the relative risk of cardiac arrest. The risk in the overall population is less than 0.2 percent, and so a 50 percent increase raises the absolute risk to 0.3 percent.
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