Medications like Prozac and Zoloft are two of the most frequently prescribed medications for depression. Such selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) have are linked with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The latest research is now beginning to piece together why that is so.
In a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, investigators discovered that use of SSRIs with non-diabetics was linked to reduced pancreatic insulin secretion, which may lead to a risk of development of diabetes. For those who already suffering from the disease, SSRIs significantly increased insulin dependence.
“It is biologically plausible that SSRIs decrease insulin secretion and that this might, therefore, be a mechanism underlying the previously observed association between SSRIs and increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Consequently, type 2 diabetes patients treated with SSRIs might also have a higher risk to develop insulin dependence, a condition associated with an increased risk of mortality,” lead researcher, Dr. Raymond Noordam at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands wrote.
Even more alarming, people with diabetes who were taking antidepressant medications were more than twice as likely to begin insulin treatments than those who were not using antidepressants.
Previous studies noted that the use of SSRIs is associated with lower insulin secretions. But, these studies were undermined by the insufficient control groups, self-reported symptoms, and a lack of participants.
Dr. Noordam’s study aimed to solve such problems. The data comes from a study that featured thousands of older adults. Participants were studied from 1991 to 2012. There were a number of variables that researchers could control including body mass index (BMI), depressive symptoms, and whether the person was taking medications to reduce glucose.
Researchers discovered that individuals without diabetes who were using SSRIs had lower insulin levels than those who were not taking antidepressants or prescribed the older tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Researchers concluded: “current use of SSRIs was associated with a lower level of insulin, lower pancreatic insulin secretion (assessed with HOMA-β), and lower peripheral insulin resistance.”
Even more alarming, people with diabetes who were taking antidepressant medications were more than twice as likely to begin insulin treatments than those who were not using antidepressants. The researchers stipulated that their data might suggest that progression of type 2 diabetes during the use of SSRIs is accelerated.
Because the focus of the study involved only older adults, it remains unclear whether these findings can be applied to younger adults or children prescribed SSRIs, although researchers believe that, there is little reason to believe that the results would differ..
Antidepressants, including SSRIs, have been associated with a number of risks and side-effects, including cognitive decline, gastrointestinal problems, sexual dysfunction, metabolic effects, weight gain, diabetes, abnormal bleeding, stroke, and death (particularly in older people).
