Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) associated with 35% increased risk for cardiovascular disease

Tricyclic Antidepressants Linked to Increased Cardiovascular Risk

From Medscape Medical News > Psychiatry
Megan Brooks
Authors and Disclosures

November 30, 2010 — Findings from a prospective cohort study released today suggest tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are associated with a 35% increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is not explained by existing psychiatric illness.
However, researchers found no increased cardiac risk associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
"This suggests that there may be some characteristic of tricyclics that is raising the risk," Mark Hamer, PhD, of University College London, United Kingdom, said in a release. "Tricyclics are known to have a number of side effects; they are linked to increased blood pressure, weight gain, and diabetes, and these are all risk factor for CVD," he adds.
Dr. Hamer told Medscape Medical News that clinicians need to "be cautious about prescribing TCAs, especially in people with other risk factors."
In the study, published online December 1 in the European Heart Journal, Dr. Hamer and colleagues assessed the association between antidepressant medication use and future risk for CVD in 14,784 Scottish adults with no known history of CVD.
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