Postmenopausal women taking antidepressants may be at higher risk for stroke, death

Moral of the story: Postmenopausal women on antidepressants are 45% more likely than those not on such medication to have a stroke, and 32% more likely to die of any cause.

AMA Morning Rounds 12/15/09

Postmenopausal women taking antidepressants may be at higher risk for stroke, death.

The Los Angeles Times (12/14, Healy) "Booster Shots" blog reported that, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, "postmenopausal women taking antidepressants are at higher risk of suffering a stroke or of dying of any cause than are those who do not take such medications." Investigators "followed 136,293 post-menopausal women, age 50 to 79, for just under six years," during which time "5,496 developed depression and were treated with antidepressant medication." Researchers found that over the course of "follow-up, the women on antidepressants were 45% more likely than those not on such medication to have a stroke, and 32% more likely to die of any cause."

        HealthDay (12/14, Edelson) reported that while the study found that "women on selective serotonin uptake inhibitors," such as "Celexa [citalopram], Paxil [paroxetine], Prozac [fluoxetine], and Zoloft [sertraline]," as well as "tricyclic antidepressants," had an increased risk for stroke and death, "the overall risk for any one woman remained very small."