New research finds antidepressants increase the risk of stroke, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and other cardiovascular events. Citizens Commission on Human Rights calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to update medication guides to reflect these risks.
The increased risk of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases faced by depressed individuals is due to their use of antidepressants, not to the depression itself, a new study indicates. Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to update antidepressants prescribing information and medication guides to fully disclose these risks now established by research.
Prior research had looked for, but had not found an underlying biological mechanism to account for the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in depressed people. Until now, the contribution of antidepressants to the risks of stroke and heart diseases had not been adequately evaluated.
Researchers in the new study used methodology that allowed them to separately assess the effect of major depression and antidepressants on seven cardiovascular conditions: arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation (AFib), coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases as a group.
They found that the use of antidepressants increased the risk of atrial fibrillation and stroke by 44% each; arrhythmias by 28%; coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and heart failure by 16% each; and overall cardiovascular disease by 35%. They concluded that the association of depression with these cardiovascular diseases is primarily accounted for by depressed patients’ use of antidepressants, not from depression itself.
“The use of antidepressants is linked to heightened risks of each CVD [cardiovascular disease],” the researchers reported, publishing their results in the British medical journal, BMJ Mental Health.
Heart diseases and stroke are major health concerns in the U.S. “Cardiovascular disease and stroke are common and costly, and their prevalence is rising,” warned a recent article in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.
The FDA-approved prescribing information and medication guides for antidepressants, such as Zoloft, Prozac, Cymbalta and Pristiq, do not currently mention the potential risks of stroke and cardiovascular diseases associated with the use of the drugs. Some 45 million Americans are currently taking antidepressants prescribed by their psychiatrists or other prescribers.
“It is incumbent on the FDA to require antidepressant manufacturers to update the information provided to patients to warn of the potential risks of stroke, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and other life-threatening cardiovascular events from the use of these drugs,” said Anne Goedeke, president of the CCHR National Affairs Office. “Consumers have the right to know the full extent of the potential dangers of antidepressants.”
WARNING: Anyone wishing to discontinue or change the dose of an antidepressant or other psychiatric drug is cautioned to do so only under the supervision of a physician because of potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms or other complications.