SSRI antidepressants linked to increased risk of stroke

Anti­de­pres­sants linked to risk of brain bleeds (Chica­go Tribune):

“Peo­ple using a com­mon class of anti­de­pres­sants may have slight­ly increased odds of suf­fer­ing bleed­ing in the brain — though the risk is still very small, researchers report­ed Wednesday…The anti­de­pres­sants are known as selec­tive sero­tonin reup­take inhibitors (SSRIs), and include wide­ly used drugs like flu­ox­e­tine (Prozac), ser­tra­line (Zoloft), citalo­pram (Celexa) and parox­e­tine (Pax­il).”

Study: Selec­tive sero­tonin reup­take inhibitors and brain hem­or­rhage (Neu­rol­o­gy). From the Abstract:

• Objec­tive: We syn­the­sized the epi­demi­o­log­ic evi­dence con­cern­ing selec­tive sero­tonin reup­take inhibitor (SSRI) expo­sure and the risk of CNS hemorrhage.
• Con­clu­sions: SSRI expo­sure is asso­ci­at­ed with an increased risk of intrac­ere­bral and intracra­nial hem­or­rhage, yet giv­en the rar­i­ty of this event, absolute risks are like­ly to be very low.

Relat­ed arti­cles:

• Map­ping the Brain To Bet­ter Enhance and Treat the Mind
• Cog­ni­tive ther­a­py or med­ica­tion? Brain scans may help per­son­al­ize treatments
• One size does not fit all: Does the brain ‘remem­ber’ antidepressants?
• The Future of Com­put­er-assist­ed Cog­ni­tive Therapy

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