Antidepressants May Double Bone Fracture Risk

As if just being depressed  were not depressing enough, a new study suggests that antidepressants such as Prozac and Zoloft may double the risk of bone fracture. The LA Times reports on the McGill University research, which found that about 10 percent of daily antidepressant users older than 50 fractured a
bone over a five-year period. Researchers compared those numbers to the fracture rate among people who did not use
antidepressants, which was 5 percent.
The paper reports that the study found that patients on antidepressants were twice as likely
to fall and had lower bone mineral density at the hip and spine.
It quotes Dr. David Goltzman, senior author of the study, saying that it was likely the falls were caused by low blood pressure
and fainting spells, two known side effects of a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. The study took
into account the increased falls and lower bone density, but still
found a doubling of the risk for bone breakage.
Read more in the Los Angeles Times.