In a study involving 151,000 working-aged men and women in Finland, researchers linked anti-depressant medications to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.
A common problem among people with diabetes, the World Health Organization estimates that around 121 million people worldwide suffer from major depressive disorder (also referredr to simply as "depression"), a condition characterized by pervasive and persistent low mood, loss of pleasure in otherwise enjoyable activities and lowered self-esteem, among a variety of other symptoms.
The latest study on the link between anti-depressants and type diabetes 2, is, as the Association notes, in need of follow-up studies and larger clinical trials that look at long-term effects of medication on getting diabetes. The researchers were also interested in whether or not people on anti-depressants would gain more weight than those who did not. They discovered that anti-depressants can in fact cause patients to gain weight, which in turn can worsen the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, one trigger of diabetes.
All participants in the study suffered from major depressive disorder.
To gather their findings, the researchers looked at national health and prescription registers in Finland, and looked at whether or not the chances of developing type 2 diabetes increased along with the severity of the participants' depression.
Although the elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes was "modest," researchers still concluded that there was a link between anti-depressants and diabetes.
A similar major study by researchers at Southampton University in the U.K., involving more than a million patients, was recently published in the journal Diabetes Care, the scientists having come to the same conclusion.
"Our research shows that when you take away all the classic risk factors of type 2 diabetes; weight gain, lifestyle etc, there is something about anti-depressants that appears to be an independent risk factor," lead researcher Katharine Barnard, a health psychologist from the University of Southampton said in a press release.
Richard Holt, Professor in Diabetes and Endocrinology at the University of Southampton, advised doctors to be aware of the associated risks before prescribing anti-depressants to their patients.
"While depression is an important clinical problem and antidepressants are effective treatments for this debilitating condition, clinicians need to be aware of the potential risk of diabetes, particularly when using antidepressants in higher doses or for longer duration," he said.
