Study: Anti-Depressants Linked To Increased Stroke Risk In Older Women
A new study just out in the Archives of Internal Medicine delivers more bad news for anti-depressants and their defenders. The study was part of the Women’s Health Initiative and looked at 136,293 post-menopausal women.
“Results: Antidepressant use was not associated with coronary heart disease (CHD). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use was associated with increased stroke risk (hazard ratio [HR],1.45, [95% CI, 1.08-1.97]) and all-cause mortality (HR,1.32 [95% CI, 1.10-1.59]). Annualized rates per 1000 person-years of stroke with no antidepressant use and SSRI use were 2.99 and 4.16, respectively, and death rates were 7.79 and 12.77. Tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) use was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR,1.67 [95% CI, 1.33-2.09]; annualized rate, 14.14 deaths per 1000 person-years). There were no significant differences between SSRI and TCA use in risk of any outcomes. In analyses by stroke type, SSRI use was associated with incident hemorrhagic stroke (HR, 2.12 [95% CI, 1.10-4.07]) and fatal stroke (HR, 2.10 [95% CI, 1.15-3.81]).
“Conclusions: In postmenopausal women, there were no significant differences between SSRI and TCA use in risk of CHD, stroke, or mortality. Antidepressants were not associated with risk of CHD. Tricyclic antidepressants and SSRIs may be associated with increased risk of mortality, and SSRIs with increased risk of hemorrhagic and fatal stroke, although absolute event risks are low. These findings must be weighed against quality of life and established risks of cardiovascular disease and mortality associated with untreated depression.”
Researchers were quick to tell the press that the study meant next to nothing.
“‘[S]tatistical significance can be different from clinical significance,’ stressed Dr. Jordan W. Smoller, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and lead author of a report in the Dec. 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. ‘It is possible that a statistically detectable effect may not be a problem for most people.’”
Um, call me crazy, but a 45 percent increase in stroke risk associated with SSRI use strikes me as significant as does all the other negative findings around anti-depressants and women’s health and fetal health in recent years.
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