Antidepressants named as cause of heart attacks

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, USA (UPI): Some antidepressants may increase the risk of heart disease, researchers said early this week.

"We know that antidepressants can affect heart rate and blood pressure," said Kate Lapane, an epidemiologist at Brown University, in Providence.

"We now have preliminary evidence, suggesting some of these drugs may contribute to heart attacks."

In a study published in the July issue of Epidemiology, Dr. Lapane and colleagues tracked the rates of heart disease in two New England communities over a decade. Study participants who reported using tricyclics, one class of antidepressant, were almost six times more likely to have a heart attack participants on than non-users.

The study involved 6,000 people enrolled in the Pawtucket Heart Health Program from 1981 to 1990, and who were free of symptoms of heart disease at the time they enrolled. Researchers followed the participants for an average of 6 years, during a period when tricyclics were among the most popular type of antidepressant.

However, the study failed to address whether the drugs -- or simply the participants' depression -- caused the rise in heart attacks. Since the 1930s, researchers have linked depression and heart disease.

"That was long before antidepressants were even in the picture," said Robert Carney, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. "And in our studies, comparing depressed people who take drugs with depressed people who don't, there is absolutely no evidence that drugs make a difference."

"The new study's clinical implications could be quite dangerous,"" added Nancy Frasure-Smith, a psychiatrist at McGill University, in Canada. Some years back, researchers tentatively linked beta-blockers, the only drugs known to prevent morbidity after a heart attack, to depression. As a result, many clinicians took their patients off beta-blockers."

Dr. Lapane stressed that the study is merely a starting point.

"If I were taking anti-depressants right now, I certainly wouldn't stop because of this one piece," she said.

Prozac, a popular antidepressant, was not marketed yet, and was not included in the study.

Dr. Lapane added that she hopes future research helps guide physicians in prescribing antidepressants. "There are a range of drugs you can prescribe," she said.

"With more information, physicians could consider which antidepressants might be best for patients with heart disease risk factors."