Antidepressants dramatically raise risk of cataracts
Jun 14, 2010
(NaturalNews) Of the 35 million Americans who are age 65 or older, the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) claims about 7 million of them
suffer from clinical depression -- and millions are on the prescription
antidepressant drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs) such as Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro and Zoloft. Hyped by Big Pharma
as the way to solve depression problems in all age groups, these
medications come with a litany of serious side effects, including some
that are particularly dangerous for elders.
For example, a
University of Minnesota study found SSRIs increase the rate of bone
loss in older men and women. And now there's even more reason for
seniors to be wary of taking SSRIs. New research just published in Ophthalmology,
the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, concludes taking
these antidepressants substantially raises the risk of
sight-threatening cataracts.
A cataract is a clouding of the
lens in the eye that affects vision. In fact, as cataracts progress,
they can cause enough deterioration of eyesight that surgery is needed
to remove them. Although cataracts are common in older people, there
are many factors that can increase a person's risk of actually
developing the eye problem, including exposure to cigarette smoke, air
pollution, and heavy alcohol consumption. And now you can add taking
SSRIs to that list.
22,000 more victims of SSRI drugs each yearThe
new study, led by Mahyar Etminan, PharmD, of Vancouver Coastal Health
Research Institute in Canada, involved analyzing data on nearly 19,000
people 65 years old or older. Then their health records were compared
to about 190,000 controls. The research team found that, overall,
taking SSRIs raised the risk of cataracts by about 15 percent. In the
U.S., that translates to 22,000 additional cataract cases caused by the
drugs each year.
Those overall findings may sound worrisome
enough. But when you look at what the study showed about specific
drugs, it is clear that three commonly prescribed antidepressants greatly up the risk of cataracts. Paxil
(paroxetine) elevated cataract risk by 23 percent, Effexor
(venlafaxine) pushed the odds of getting cataracts up 33 percent and
Luvox (fluvoxamine) increased the risk by a whopping 39 percent.
The
good news is that the increased risk was associated only with current,
not past, drug use -- so those who are no longer taking SSRIs can
breathe a little easier about their cataract risk. The research team
also found that some antidepressants did not appear to be associated
with cataract risk, but they acknowledged this could have been because
the numbers of study participants using these drug types were too small
to show effects.
So how could SSRIs spur on cataract formation?
"The eye's lens has serotonin receptors, and animal studies have shown
that excess serotonin can make the lens opaque and lead to cataract
formation," Dr. Etminan said in a statement to the press. "If our
findings are confirmed in future studies, doctors and patients should
consider cataract risk when prescribing some SSRIs for seniors."
As
NaturalNews reported last March, researchers have found that hormone
replacement therapy (HRT) increases the risk for cataracts, too (http://www.naturalnews.com/028349_H...).
Swedish scientists found that women who were taking or who had ever
taken HRT had significantly higher rates of cataracts so severe they
had to be removed.
For more information:
http://www.healingfoodreference.com...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...
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