Posted by P. on August 26, 1999, at 23:03:42
In reply to what happens with long term antidepressant use?, posted by Iris on August 22, 1999, at 21:48:28
Hi,
Sorry I can't come up with the citation, but
I recall reading in the paper that depression
increases one's likelyhood of heart attacks by a
factor of 3 to 4!There was even a possible explanation given
-- something about how blood platelets use
serotonin to regulate their clotting ability,
and depressives having abnormal serotonin
handling.A library's newspaper search index could probably
find the articles. They're pretty recent; the
last few weeks or 3.Also, it's known that cortisol damages the
hippocampus, and that cortisol is high in
depression.OTOH, tricyclics can be bad on the heart, and
other drugs hard on other organs, so
it seems a bit like "choose your poison".I don't think (opinion not based on much research)
AD drugs are especially toxic, though (some have
been in use a long long time), and I'd rather
live a full short life than a longer empty one (my
opinion only).
poster:P.
thread:10523
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990814/msgs/10705.html