Like Some Antipsychotic Meds, Antidepressants May Increase Diabetes Risk
For most depressed patients, taking antidepressants are a risk-benefit ratio; improving depression comes with a set of side effects that require management in the long term. For a population of depressed patients who may be at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, antidepressants have been a cause for concern because of an association between antidepressants and development of type 2 diabetes.
American Diabetes Association (ADA) announced that antidepressants may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes for depressed patients who already have that risk. This came from ADA’s 2006 scientific meeting held during the summer. The association also published on the role of depression and developing diabetes, which you may access via this PDF from ADA’s website. Those with depression and diabetes definitely need to carefully manage both conditions.
In one of the studies looking at antidepressants and diabetes, people with high diabetes risk who took antidepressants were 2 to 3 times more likely to develop diabetes during the course of the study, compared with people who did not take antidepressants. This study is important because there had been headlines for some time about antipsychotic medications increasing diabetes risk, but this is the first time that antidepressant drugs have been linked to increasing diabetes risk. How this happens (the mechanism) is still unclear at this time.
Debate also centered already a “chicken or egg” question: which came first, the diabetes or depression? Certainly, people with chronic conditions (chronic pain, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes) are understandably prone to triggers causing depression. What is not yet known is whether depression is caused by the diabetic condition, although most endocrinologists realize that depression can occur in diabetic patients.
Search for more: ADA’s Press Release or Google News on Antidepressants and Diabetes
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