Antidepressants Tied to Women's Heart Risk

March 10, 2009— -- Relatively healthy women with severe depression are at increased risk for heart problems, including sudden cardiac death and fatal heart disease, a new study finds.

But even more startling is that the researchers suggest that some of the antidepressants used to treat these women might play a role in their increased heart risk.

Doctors from Columbia University in New York and the University of California at San Diego analyzed information provided by 63,469 women participating in the ongoing Nurses Health Study. Overall, they found that women with depression were more than twice as likely to experience sudden cardiac death, and 37 percent more likely to die of heart disease, compared to women without depression.

But perhaps more surprising was that an increased risk of heart trouble in these women appeared to have less to do with the symptoms of depression -- and more to do with the use of antidepressants.

The researchers cautioned in their report that women with depression should not discontinue use of antidepressants out of fear regarding the increased heart risk associated with these drugs.

"We want to emphasize that we're not advising anyone to stop antidepressant use based on this study," said lead study investigator Dr. William Whang, assistant professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University. "That finding is worth exploring more but certainly there's no way to say anything about causality from this study."

Still, experts admit these findings are compelling enough to justify further research into the possible cardiovascular risks associated with the use of antidepressants.

"The data are strong enough to indicate that those who receive antidepressants are at greater risk [of heart trouble]," said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, professor in the department of psychiatry and director of the Laboratory of Brain, Behavior and Pharmacology at the University of California at Los Angeles. "This is just a correlation, however, and the data do not indicate anything about the cause. ... I think that there should be more study of the question."