Tricyclic antidepressants, which are the oldest class of antidepressants, have been found to increase the risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases by a recent study. The study comes from the University College London, the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh and Vrije Universiteit in The Netherlands.  And it has been published in the European Heart Journal.

Antidepressants are of different types such as tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and many more. Previous studies have very conflicting views about the use of antidepressants and the risk of Cardio Vascular Diseases or CVD in previously healthy people. Therefore these researchers aimed at providing a more definite view of the risk involved.

The research involved 14,784 participants aged 35 or older from the Scottish Health Survey, who were believed to be the representative sample of the general population. The participants were followed for a period of eight years and all the important events were recorded during the course of the study.

From the study it was found that people who took TCAs were at a 35% higher risk of all cardiovascular disease events compared with those who did not take any antidepressant medication. Other types of antidepressants such as SSRIs did not put people at an increased risk of cardiovascular events. It was also observed that there is no increase in the risk of death from CVD, cancer or any other cause from taking TCAs, SSRIs or any other antidepressant medication.

The researchers therefore concluded that TCAs are associated with elevated risk of CVD. However they also note that although depression and psychological stress are also risk factors of CVD. And as they had assessed all the participants for the symptoms of mental illness at the beginning of the study and also taken it into account during the analysis suggests that the effect of TCA is not dependent on people's mental health.

The study was well conducted but had certain limitations to it as well such as whether people stuck to the antidepressants they had been prescribed or was there any change in the dosage or prescription over time. Due to these limitations the study needs to be confirmed in further researches examining more about the risk of different dosage or duration of use.

Antidepressants are not the only factor that increase the risk of CVD events, there are other factors as well such as smoking, overweight, sedentary lifestyle. If people can give up these habits they can reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease by many times.

But if you are taking any antidepressant now, please do not stop taking it without consulting your doctor. If you are worried or concerned about the safety of your medication do not hesitate in asking your doctor to explain you everything that you are concerned about.