Sunday, March 30, 2008

Combination of Antidepressants Linked to Risk of Diabetes

The use of two types of antidepressants at the same time was associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, a nested case-control study showed.

Patients taking both a tricyclic antidepressant and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) were nearly twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes as those taking a tricyclic antidepressant alone, Jeffrey Johnson, Ph.D., of the University of Alberta, and colleagues reported in the January issue of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.

"If our findings are confirmed by others," they concluded, "it could be that antidepressant therapy will need to be tailored to depressed individuals' risk of developing diabetes, and that patients on combination therapy will require vigilance regarding the development of glucose intolerance."

The increased risk of diabetes in depressed patients is well-documented, the researchers said, but the mechanisms are unknown.

READ MORE @ MEDPAGE TODAY