Antidepressants Linked to Diabetes?

Researchers recently conducted a study to determine the risk of diabetes mellitus associated with antidepressant use. The researchers also assessed whether the risk is influenced by antidepressant treatment duration or daily dose. The study found that:

• Moderate to high daily antidepressant use in excess of 2 years is associated with an increased risk of diabetes.
  
  
• The risk was evident in long-term use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). However, the SSRI paroxetine (Paxil) and the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline appeared to be linked with the greatest potential for the development of diabetes among the study participants.
  
  
• Shorter periods of antidepressant treatment or lower daily doses were not associated with an increased risk of diabetes.

Like many studies of its kind, the conclusions the researchers present are not definitive. The exact reason for the increase in diabetes in the study group was not determined. Further research is needed to clarify what association, if any, exists between long-term antidepressant use and diabetes.

_Source:

_{Andersohn, Frank, M.D.; Schade, Rene, M.D.; Suissa, Samy, Ph.D.; and Garbe, Edeltraut, M.D., Ph.D. (2009). Long-Term Use of Antidepressants for Depressive Disorders and the Risk of Diabetes Mellitus. Am J Psychiatry Online. 2009 Apr 1.}