Antidepressants may damage or kill crucial nerve cells in the brain, researchers claimed in a study of more than 71,000 people.
"Potential
antidepressant overprescribing in a large cohort of elderly patients mainly involved the use of newer
antidepressants for nonspecific psychiatric symptoms and indications," the investigators wrote.
The use of
antidepressants is associated with adverse events such as a higher risk of falls, wrote Jon Brannstrom, MD, and his colleagues in JAMA Psychiatry.
The review calls for fresh guidance for patients choosing to come off
antidepressants.
They wrote concerning the effects experienced when coming off
antidepressants.
Patients prescribed
antidepressants are therefore vulnerable to obesity simply by virtue of being depressed, taking the
antidepressant and being part of the UK population where obesity rates are constantly rising.
Of these, over 21,000 (2.3%) were born to mothers who used
antidepressants during pregnancy.
I S L A M A B A D --
Antidepressant drugs actually do help ease depression, countering debate over whether the medications do what they're supposed to, a large research review has found.
However, the use of
antidepressants during pregnancy may be safer than many originally believed.
Researchers from the National Centre for Register-based Research at Aarhus BSS showed that there is an increased risk involved in using
antidepressants during pregnancy.
Use of a lower dose of
antidepressants during pregnancy