Pamelor (nortriptyline) increases risk of diabetes 122%

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Tuesday, April 05, 2011 6:16 am Email this article
The antidepressant nortriptyline (Aventyl HCl or Pamelor) increases the risk of diabetes 122% -- or 2.2-fold -- according to an analysis by researchers from Charité University Medical Center in Berlin, Germany.

The dose was 30 mg per day or above that increased the risk.

Note: This was not quite statistically significant, but it was so close I consider it irrelevant. To me, statistical significance is often misused to try and convince both doctors and the public that a link does not exist, but it is overwhelming likely that this increased risk of diabetes was due to the drug and not due to random chance.

Those who had taken the drug for 2 years or more

Those who had taken the drug for 2 years or more versus those who had not taken an antidepressant in the previous two years

The study compared the risk of diabetes in people who had taken antidepressants for 2 years or more compared to those had not taken an antidepressants during the previous two years.

 

Subjects

Subjects: 165,958 patients

The analysis looked at “165,958 patients with depression who received at least one new prescription for an antidepressant between January 1, 1990, and June 30, 2005”.

 

Conclusion

Conclusion: Long-term use of antidepressants increases risk of diabetes

“Long-term use of antidepressants in at least moderate daily doses was associated with an increased risk of diabetes. This association was observed for both tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,” the researchers concluded.

REFERENCE

Andersohn F, Schade R, Suissa S, Garbe E. Long-term use of antidepressants for depressive disorders and the risk of diabetes mellitus. Am J Psychiatry. 2009 May, 166(5):591-98.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Frank Andersohn, MD
Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine
Epidemiology, and Health Economics
Charité University Medical Center
10098 Berlin, Germany
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