For several years, researchers have known that taking antidepressants is linked to a whole range of unwanted side effects. However, until now, they had not been clearly classified or listed. Thanks to a recent university study, this shortcoming has been resolved by specialists, revealing big differences depending on the medications prescribed.
In France, there are around 7 million people taking antidepressants. Despite the conclusions of this research, specialists immediately point out that you should not stop your treatment after reading these lines: according to Professor Andrea Cipriani, of the University of Oxford, it is “impossible» to say how many of the millions of people prescribed antidepressants should take another medication. The only good solution is to see on a case-by-case basis with your doctor how to best adapt your prescription, underlines the BBC in an article.
The academics therefore studied the impact of the drugs on patients during the first eight weeks after starting treatment. “There are big differences between antidepressants. This is crucial…(since) even small changes could have a big effect on the entire population”said researcher Oliver Howes.
Dangerous cumulative effects
The study carried out by King’s College London and the University of Oxford is the first to establish a ranking allowing the effects of drugs to be easily compared. The team analyzed 151 studies of 30 medications commonly used for depression, involving more than 58,500 patients.
On average, results published in the medical journal Lancet showed that an eight-week prescription of agomelatine was associated with a weight loss of 2.4 kg – compared to a weight gain of almost 2 kg with maprotiline; that a difference of 21 beats per minute had been noticed between fluvoxamine (which slows the heart) and nortriptyline (which speeds it up); and finally that a difference of 11 mmHg (millimeters of mercury, the unit of measurement of blood pressure) was noted between patients taking nortriptyline and taking doxepin.
“It’s clear that no two antidepressants are made the samesaid Dr Atheeshaan Arumuham, from King’s College London. These differences can accumulate in such a way that they become clinically important, including increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke.
This means that people with the same diagnosis could be prescribed different antidepressants, depending on their own preferences and other possible health problems. However, it would be reductive and simplistic to say that there are good and bad antidepressants, say the researchers.
