BBC issues urgent alert to millions on antidepressants – Health – News…
Dr Kasim Ahmed told BBC Morning Live viewers antidepressants had been shown to have worrying negative effects (Image: BBC)
A BBC specialist has expressed alarm concerning a number of widely prescribed antidepressants at present utilized by eight million Britons.
New research launched this week has shown that people taking particular antidepressants might put on up to 2kg (4.5lbs) during the first two months of treatment, while those utilizing different medicines may shed 2.5kg (5.5lbs).
Scientists sought to classify antidepressants based on numerous acknowledged negative effects linked to the medicine throughout the initial eight weeks of treatment.
Antidepressant Pills (Image: Getty)
The research crew, led by specialists from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, examined data from 58,534 contributors spanning more than 150 trials evaluating 30 antidepressants against a placebo.
Speaking on BBC Morning Live today, Dr Kasim Ahmed called the headlines ‘fairly scary’ “if you’re one of the 8 million people in the country that uses an antidepressant.”
He added: “The important thing that needs to be mentioned here… is that these medications have been given for a reason and that reason is because of a mood disorder of some kind, whether that’s depression, anxiety, bipolar affective disorder. These are very, very good medications at solving someone’s problems or helping someone deal with some of the problems that they’re facing as a result of these mood-based disorders.”
Three main findings of examine show weight gain, adjustments to your blood pressure and adjustments to the guts price. (Image: Getty)
The researchers discovered the most important adjustments in weight fluctuation, coronary heart price, and blood pressure ranges.
Dr. Kasim explained that the examine analyzed data from 50,000 sufferers and evaluated the medication’s results between 8 – 12 weeks after beginning treatment.
He said: “What we’re going to focus on now is the three bigger findings of it, which was weight gain, changes to your blood pressure and changes to the heart rate.
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“Essentially what it discovered is that there’s tons of different medicines of different lessons that may cause adjustments in your weight as this all beginning. If we glance at weight gain particularly first, some antidepressants, particularly issues like amitriptyline, if you are on that is one thing that we use comparatively generally right here, may cause an increase in weight of up to 2 kilogrammes within the first 12 weeks of you beginning that medication.
“But, however, other antidepressants can cause a big loss in weight as well, so things like sertraline or citalopram can cause a loss in weight up to 1 kilogramme themselves once you’ve started the medication. But this is a side effect that affects some people, not everyone who’s on those medications.”
Fresh alert issued to anybody taking sertraline, amitriptyline, citalopram or maprotiline Dr. Kasim cautioned the impacts on coronary heart price may spark ‘issues’.
He said: “So if you’re taking amitriptyline or nortriptyline is a big one, it can cause an increase in your heart rate over the course of 8 to 12 weeks of starting the medication, and sertraline, fluoxetine, so these are the medications which are of a different class, can cause a lowering of your heart rate.”
Concerning blood pressure, he continued: “So same classes of drugs, amitriptyline, nortriptyline can cause an increase in your blood pressure, not a massive increase by about 10 points over, an average period of time, and similarly. Sertraline fluoxetine citalopram, which are a class within themselves, can cause a dropping of your blood pressure.”
Throughout 2024/25, roughly 92.6 million antidepressant prescriptions had been crammed for roughly 8.89 million sufferers nationwide in England.
NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) data exhibits the antidepressant sertraline was prescribed to about 2.9 million sufferers in England over the past 12 months.
The drug, marketed under the model identify Lustral, was linked to a 0.76kg weight loss and a coronary heart price discount averaging two beats per minute, although it was also tied to slight will increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
NHSBSA information show that amitriptyline was prescribed to 2.2 million sufferers in England during 2024/25. This medication was linked to an average weight gain of 1.6kg, a coronary heart price increase of 9 beats per minute, and elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings.
Amitriptyline is an element of a class of medicine recognized as tricyclic antidepressants. This kind of antidepressant is not the first alternative for treating depression, as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends medical doctors initially strive selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – such as sertraline.
Professor Azeem Majeed, chair of major care and public health at Imperial College London, said: “For patients and clinicians, the results underscore the need for routine physical health checks in those treated with antidepressants.
“Moreover, awareness of these negative effects is important to assist shared determination-making about the dangers and advantages of treatment with antidepressants.”
Dr Lade Smith, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, commented: “Antidepressants play a key position in the treatment of more extreme depression and are significantly efficient when used in mixture with speaking therapies.
“As with all drugs, antidepressants have side effects, and we very much welcome this study which helps improve our understanding of some of the physical side effects that can be caused by different types of antidepressants.
“These findings will help sufferers and clinicians select the medication that is best suited to their personal wants.”
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, affirmed that patients will only be prescribed antidepressants “with good motive”. She noted that GPs would follow up with patients two to three weeks after a new prescription to monitor for side effects.
She also mentioned that patients will be invited for regular medication reviews. “These reviews are significantly important, as this examine suggests, given that numerous components, including lifestyle, can change how an antidepressant works,” she said.
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