Study links older depression drugs to heart risk (UK)

"People who take a class of older anti-depressant drugs have an increased risk of heart disease, scientists said on Wednesday, but the risk is not increased with newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). In a study of almost 15,000 people in Scotland, British researchers found that older so-called tricyclic anti-depressants, such as Norpramin made by Sanofi-Aventis, were linked with a 35 per cent increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. "Given that anti-depressants, such as SSRIs, are now prescribed not only for depression, but for a wide range of conditions such as back pain, headache, anxiety and sleeping problems, the risks associated with anti-depressants have increasing relevance to the general population," said Mark Hamer of University College London, who led the study. Hamer said that while the older class of drugs had largely been overtaken in the treatment of depression by newer SSRIs such as Eli Lilly's LLY.N Prozac or GlaxoSmithKline's GSK.L