>From today's reuters news service...
Antidepressants weaken bones in elderly: studies
By Will Dunham
Mon Jun 25, 5:47 PM ET
Two studies published on Monday added to the growing evidence that the
most popular class of drugs taken to treat depression may contribute
to fragile bones in elderly people.
The research focused on a class of antidepressant drugs called
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Millions of people, including
many elderly, take these drugs, known as SSRIs, which include Eli
Lilly and Co's
Prozac, known
generically as
fluoxetine.
Two teams of researchers found that older men and women taking SSRIs
had more bone loss than those not taking the drugs, which account for
more than 60 percent of U.S. antidepressant drug prescriptions. A drop
in bone mass can
lead to osteoporosis and bone fractures.
A team led by Dr. Susan Diem of the University of Minnesota tracked
2,722 women, average age 78, including 198 SSRI users. They measured
their bone mineral density five years apart.
Those taking the antidepressants experienced a density decrease at the
hip of 0.82 percent per year, compared to 0.47 percent per year among
those not taking them, the study found.
"We found that SSRI use was associated with increased rates of bone
loss in this group of older women," Diem said in a telephone
interview.
"But our research cannot definitively determine whether the SSRIs are
the cause of the increased rates of the bone loss or whether the
increased rate is due to other differences between SSRI users and
nonusers," Diem added.
Diem noted, for example, that users of these drugs may be less
physically active than people not using the drugs.
"I don't want people stopping their antidepressants for these results.
These are all preliminary findings," Diem said. "However, I think our
findings suggest that this area needs to be further looked at."
In the second study, researchers led by Dr. Elizabeth Haney of Oregon
Health & Sciences University in Portland tracked 5,995 men, average
age 74, including 160 who used SSRIs. Bone mineral density at the hip
was 3.9 percent lower
among SSRI users and 5.9 percent lower in the spine in than men not
taking antidepressants, the study found.
Haney's team compared other antidepressants and found no apparent
effects on hip or spine density measurements between men who took
tricyclic antidepressants or a third type of antidepressant called
trazodone and those who took no antidepressants.
The studies, published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine,
did not look at fracture risk.
But another study by researchers from McGill University in Montreal,
published in January, found that older adults taking these drugs had
double the risk of a bone fracture compared to those not taking the
drugs.
SSRIs inhibit a protein that transports serotonin, a chemical
messenger involved in sleep and mood. The protein has been discovered
in bone as well, raising the possibility these drugs may affect bone
strength, the researchers said.
Antidepressants weaken bones in elderly 
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