Antidepressants and diabetes risk

Long-term use of antidepressants could be linked to an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers from University College London studied more than 150,000 Finnish adults over an average of five years. 1.1% of the participants who were not using antidepressants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the course of the study compared to 1.7% of people who had taken between 200-400 daily doses of an antidepressant and 2.3% among those who had taken 400 or more daily doses. This could be because people taking the antidepressants have the poor health and lifestyle that often go hand-in-hand with type 2 diabetes. However, when the researchers looked at the participants who were suffering from severe depression those taking antidepressants were two-three times more likely than non users to be diagnosed with diabetes, even when taking into account the effects of long-term health conditions, high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.