This Common Medication May Cause Heart Disease
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. among both men and women, accounting for one in every five deaths in the nation. Despite these frightening statistics, many of us still unknowingly put ourselves at heightened risk of heart disease through our health and lifestyle habits. Now, a new study is shedding light on one way we accidentally increase our risk: A common medication used by millions of Americans could put us in danger. Read on to learn which drug could be endangering your heart, and what to do if you’ve been taking it long-term.
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Research shows that several types of medication have been linked to serious heart conditions. According to an American Heart Association report published in the medical journal Circulation, most of these drugs exacerbate existing heart problems, rather than causing problems directly through myocardial toxicity.
To make matters worse, your heart risk rises if you mix medications, experts say. In fact, a May 2022 study published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety found that “using multiple medications with known cardiovascular adverse effects at the same time doubled, and sometimes tripled, the risk for a heart attack, stroke or death among older adults with no prior cardiovascular disease.”
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According to a Sept. 2022 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry Open, using antidepressants for a period of 10 years is associated with a twofold increase of coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. The antidepressant drugs most closely associated with adverse heart effects were mirtazapine, venlafaxine, duloxetine, and trazodone, though certain serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were also linked with heart complications.
However, the study also noted that the same data, collected from over 220,000 adults who contributed to the U.K. Biobank, revealed that 10-year antidepressant medication use was linked with 23 reduced risk of high blood pressure, and a 32 percent reduced risk of diabetes.
“Our message for clinicians is that prescribing of antidepressants in the long-term may not be harm-free [and] we hope that this study will help doctors and patients have more informed conversations when they weigh up the potential risks and benefits of treatments for depression,” Narinder Bansal, MD, study author and honorary research fellow at the University of Bristol said in a press release (via Medscape).
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Though the study found a correlation between antidepressant use and various heart conditions, it stopped short of establishing causation. In fact, depression is itself considered a risk factor for heart disease, since those suffering from depression are more likely to smoke, lead a sedentary lifestyle, sleep poorly, or carry excess weight.
However, experts say that these related lifestyle factors are not the only reason depression and heart conditions are linked. “Trauma, depression, anxiety and stress can lead to changes that can
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