Mental Health Blogs

One of the biggest risks of injury faced by the elderly comes from falls and their attendant broken bones and joints. Of course, researchers have linked anti-depressants to falls by the elderly before and last month the Archives of Internal Medicine had a fascinating meta-study analyzing what classes of drugs commonly given to the elderly created the greatest risks of falls. This is the first time I’ve seen antipsychotics linked to such falls, not that it surprises me.

I’ll just list the drug class and odds ratio in order:

1. Anti-Depressants 1.68
2. Antipsychotics 1.59
3. Benzodiazapines 1.57
4. Sedatives 1.47
5. Anti-Hypertensives 1.24
6. NSAIDs 1.21
7. Beta Blockers 1.01
8. Narcotics (presumably painkillers) .96

I think those numbers speak for themselves.

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Related posts:

1. Anti-Depressants Again Linked To Birth Defects
2. Study: Anti-Depressants Put Breast Cancer Survivors At Risk
3. Study: Anti-Depressants Linked To Increased Stroke Risk In Older Women
4. Study: Anti-Depressants Ineffective For Mild, Moderate Depression
5. Anti-Depressants Double Suicide Risk In Young Adults