{"id":3540,"date":"2025-10-22T12:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/22\/antidepressant-could-cause-significant-heart-and-weight-gain-risks\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T12:03:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:03:16","slug":"antidepressant-could-cause-significant-heart-and-weight-gain-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/22\/antidepressant-could-cause-significant-heart-and-weight-gain-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"Antidepressant could cause significant heart and weight gain risks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>2025-10-22 12:03:14<\/b><br \/>\n<BR>Millions of people taking antidepressants may be at increased risk of weight gain, hypertension and heart problems, according to a major new review.<BR><br \/>\nResearchers at King\u2019s College London analysed data from 58,500 patients across 30 different antidepressants and found significant differences in their physical side effects, particularly concerning cardiovascular health.<BR><br \/>\nThe study, published in The Lancet, found that amitriptyline, one of the most commonly prescribed tricyclic antidepressants, led to weight gain in nearly half of patients, an average 9bpm rise in heart rate, and a 5mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure after just eight weeks &#8211; raising stroke risk by 5 per cent and overall mortality by almost 10 per cent.<BR><br \/>\nDr. Toby Pillinger, the study\u2019s senior author, said: &#8220;Antidepressants are among the most widely used medicines in the world.<BR><br \/>\n&#8220;While many people benefit from them, some can lead to meaningful changes in weight, heart rate and blood pressure in a relatively short period.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nOther drugs linked to increased cardiovascular risk included nortriptyline, which raised heart rate by 13 beats per minute, and mirtazapine, which caused notable weight gain. <BR><br \/>\nIn contrast, patients taking citalopram, a common SSRI, lost an average of 0.65kg and saw modest improvements in blood pressure and heart rate.<BR><br \/>\nExperts say the findings highlight the need for routine health checks for those on long-term antidepressants, particularly since 8.8 million people in England currently take them.<BR><br \/>\nDr. Prada Nishtala, from the University of Bath, warned that the real-world risks could be \u201cmuch higher,\u201d as many patients take these drugs for months or years.<BR><br \/>\nWhile experts emphasised patients should not stop taking antidepressants without medical advice, the study\u2019s authors urged for \u201cshared decision-making\u201d in prescriptions and greater awareness of physical side effects.<BR><br \/>\nDr. Alison Cave, chief safety officer at the MHRA, reassured patients that \u201call known side effects are clearly outlined\u201d in medicine leaflets and encouraged anyone with concerns to consult their doctor or report symptoms via the Yellow Card scheme.<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Visit Bang Bizarre (main website) <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><script src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player\/xtbac.js\" data-video=\"\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2025-10-22 12:03:14 Millions of people taking antidepressants may be at increased risk of weight gain, hypertension and heart problems, according to a major new review. Researchers at King\u2019s College London&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bizarre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3542,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540\/revisions\/3542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}