Used to treat depression, not all antidepressant drugs affect weight in the same way, researchers say.
- Weight gain is a side effect of antidepressants that can lead patients to stop taking them. A study finds that some drugs may cause less weight gain than others.
- The researchers compared the effects of eight common antidepressants: sertraline, citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, bupropion, duloxetine, and venlafaxine.
- Patients taking bupropion were “15 to 20 percent less likely to gain clinically significant weight” than those using the most common drug, sertraline. And escitalopram and paroxetine were associated with an “approximately 15 percent higher risk of gaining clinically significant weight.”
Weight gain is one of the unwanted side effects of antidepressant drugs, used in France by some seven million people to treat depression. So much so that it can affect the metabolic health of patients and lead some, seeing the kilos add up, to stop their treatment, with a risk of relapse.
But according to a large study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicinenot all antidepressants are equal on the scale: some may cause less weight gain than others.
Patients taking antidepressant bupropion gained less weight
To reach this conclusion, researchers from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute in the United States examined the profiles and medical records of more than 180,000 adults aged 18 to 80 who had recently started taking antidepressants. They compared the participants’ weight at 6, 12 and 24 months after starting treatment with eight common antidepressants: sertraline, citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, bupropion, duloxetine and venlafaxine. “Patients and their caregivers often have several options when first starting an antidepressant.”specifies a communicated.
The result was that patients taking bupropion, a selective inhibitor of neuronal reuptake of catecholamines (noradrenaline and dopamine), gained the least weight compared to users of other antidepressants. In detail, they were “15 to 20% less likely to gain clinically significant weight” than those who used the most common drug, sertraline.
Increased risk of weight gain with escitalopram and paroxetine
The study also showed that a “large percentage of patients were taking a drug that led to greater weight gain than alternatives that are generally available in the same class or subclass”. For example, sertraline, escitalopram, and paroxetine are all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most common type of antidepressant, but escitalopram and paroxetine were associated with a “approximately 15% higher risk of gaining clinically significant weight” than sertraline during the first six months.
“This study provides concrete evidence of the differences in weight gain that can be expected after starting some of the most common antidepressants, concludes Professor Joshua Petimar, who led the work. Doctors and patients can use this information, among other factors, to help them make the right choice.”
