Antidepressants and Your Heart: The Hidden Risks of Long-Term Use - AI Podcast

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Health & Fitness, Health, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Story at-a-glance

Long-term antidepressant use significantly increases the risk of sudden cardiac death, with risk doubling after six or more years of use according to Danish research
Younger adults face an even higher risk, with those aged 30 to 39 showing five times greater likelihood of sudden cardiac death after six years on antidepressants
Antidepressants disrupt heart rhythm by affecting ion channels, triggering fatal irregular heartbeat
Research shows antidepressants only benefit about 15% of patients beyond placebo effect, primarily those with severe depression rather than general low mood
Effective alternatives for managing depression include exercise, sunlight exposure, gut health optimization and techniques for nervous system regulation

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Dr. Mercola's Cellular Wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen
0:06.1	summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required.
0:10.8	Subscribe for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights.
0:15.0	Have you ever paused to ask whether the pill you swallow for low mood could quietly double
0:19.8	the odds that your heart stops without
0:21.7	warning? Hello and welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. I'm Ethan Foster, guiding today's
0:27.8	discussion with co-host Alara Sky. Thanks, Ethan. Today you'll hear clear evidence from Danish researchers
0:34.1	showing that long-term antidepressant use sharply raises the risk of sudden cardiac
0:38.9	death, especially if you're under 60. We'll also outline practical ways to protect your mood and your
0:45.0	heart using strategies detailed in Dr. Merkel's article. Let's start with the numbers. The study reviewed
0:51.5	every adult death in Denmark in 2010. Out of almost 46,000 deaths,
0:57.0	6,002 were sudden cardiac deaths. How did antidepressant exposure influence those outcomes?
1:04.0	People were labeled exposed if they'd filled at least two antidepressant prescriptions
1:09.0	in any 12-month window during the previous
1:11.7	12 years. Short-term exposure meant one to five years. Long-term meant six years or more. Even one to
1:18.8	five years raised sudden cardiac death risk by 56 percent. And once use crossed the six-year
1:24.3	line, what happened? Risk more than doubled, a 2.2-fold increase compared with non-users.
1:30.7	Younger adults looked especially vulnerable.
1:33.3	What did the data show for people in their 30s?
1:36.0	If you're 30 to 39 and take antidepressants for one to five years, your risk triples.
1:41.9	Stay on them for six or more years and it quintuples, five times higher
1:46.0	than peers who never filled a prescription.
	...

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