Antidepressants could increase diabetes risk

Patients who are on antidepressant drugs could be increasing their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, particularly if they are already suffer from risk factors associated with the disease.
A major study funded by the American government made the findings, after thoroughly investigating the role of lifestyle and drug therapy in preventing diabetes. The study was carried out by researchers at the Diabetes Prevention Program following sponsorship by the National Institutes of Health .
They found that depression alone did not necessarily predict that diabetes would develop, yet those patients who are on antidepressants are likely to face between a two or three fold risk. The increase in risk was found amongst those people who were already at a risk from diabetes.
The new study is the first to find that antidepressant drugs increase the risk of diabetes. The president of the ADA (American Diabetes Association) said that: “We have to keep in mind that this occurred in a population at very high risk for diabetes so we don’t know whether the findings would apply to the general population, but this should be explored further.”
The relationship between diabetes and depression is a double-edged sword . Stress from the disease can cause depression, depression can result in poorer control of the disease.