Antidepressant Use and Cardiovascular Risk in Postmenopausal Women

More than 10% of U.S. women use antidepressants — typically, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or, less commonly, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). A diagnosis of depression itself is a risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) disease, but the effects of treatment are unclear: Some studies have indicated that SSRIs improve CV outcomes, whereas others have revealed excess CV risk with TCAs or SSRIs. Now, investigators have examined the association between antidepressant use, CV morbidity, and all-cause mortality in 5496 Women's Health Initiative participants who were not using antidepressants at baseline but had initiated SSRIs (3040), TCAs (1490), or other regimens that could include SSRIs or TCAs (966) by the time of their first f…