Antidepressants may lower heart attack risk

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

In depressed patients who have had a heart attack, taking antidepressants reduces the risk of recurrence.
Previous research has suggested that heart disease is linked to depression. One in five patients who have had a recent heart attack are found to have major depression.

Doctors at Stanford Medical Center, California, have carried out a clinical trial to test the effect of anti-depressant medication on the risk of a second heart attack. They looked at 1834 patients with depression who had had a heart attack.

Of the group, 446 took antidepressants during the study of which 301 were on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). During the average follow up of 29 months, 26 per cent of those who did not take antidepressants either died or had another heart attack. This was compared to 21.5 per cent of those who did take antidepressants. This means that taking SSRIs was linked to a 43 per cent lower risk of heart attack or cardiac death and a 43 per cent lower risk of all-cause mortality. Other antidepressants were linked to a 36 per cent and 27 per cent lower risk respectively. The findings suggest that treating depression among those with heart disease could be life-saving.

Source
Archives of General Psychiatry July 2005 Volume 62 pages 792-298