Taking this if you’re over 65 could kill you!
If you're over 65, don't tell your doctor that you're feeling a little run down. You'll walk out of his office with a prescription for a common drug you probably think is harmless. But studies show these drugs don't work any better than a placebo. Plus -- they're far more dangerous. In fact, if you're over 65, taking one just might kill you!
And here's what else you need to know before going to your doc for help...
One type of this common pill is much more dangerous than all the rest! If you take it, you run a much greater risk of falling or suffering a fractured bone. You also run a greater risk of having a stroke or epileptic seizure.
But doctors prescribe it the MOST... even among seniors who are most at risk.
Here's what even scarier...
You don't have to take one for years to run into problems. The new research found that most problems occur within the first 28 days of taking these drugs.
The good news is that you do have options. If you're feeling a little run down, there are steps you can take to climb out of your fog. I'll tell you about those in a moment.
But first, consider this...
Why antidepressants are commonly prescribed to seniors
If you hadn't guessed, the common pills I'm talking about are antidepressants. Depression among older adults is very hard to treat. It can last longer and can trigger more serious symptoms. Plus, most mainstream docs don't think outside the box when it comes to helping depressed seniors.
In this shocking study, researchers from the UK investigated the harmful effects taking an antidepressant can have on older adults. This is one of the first studies ever to zero in this growing problem.
Specifically, researchers examined data on more than 60,000 men and women over 65 to 100 years old. Each of the patients had recently been diagnosed with depression. But they had never suffered from it before.
Researchers found that 89 percent of the time, the seniors left their doctors' offices with a new prescription for an antidepressant. (Remember, you have other options. Keep reading to learn more.)
More than ½ of the time, the doctors prescribed a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, more commonly known as an SSRI. This is a newer class of antidepressants, said to have fewer side effects than older drugs. Blockbusters like Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, and Zoloft belong to this class of drugs.
About 30 percent of the time, the doctors prescribed drugs known as tricyclic antidepressants or TCAs. Today, doctors use these mainly to treat patients who don't respond to SSRIs. But they cause a slew of side effects, ranging from dry mouth to irregular heartbeats.
MAO inhibitors and various other antidepressants made up the other 20 percent of prescriptions.
Here's what researchers found...
Much more risk with one type of antidepressant
Researchers found that SSRIs -- by far -- are the riskiest of the bunch. Seniors who took them not only increased their risk of falls, fractures, strokes, and epileptic seizures... they also ran a greater risk of dying than folks taking another type of antidepressant.
In fact, when seniors took an SSRI (instead of another antidepressant), here's what happened:
- All-cause mortality risk increased by 32 percent
- Stroke risk increased by 15 percent
- Fall risk increased by 27 percent
- Fracture risk increased by 26 percent
- Hyponatremia (too little sodium in the blood) risk increased by 44 percent
But the other antidepressants aren't great options either. Compared to not taking anything at all, other antidepressants increased risk all-cause mortality by 66 percent. Plus, they increased risk of suicide or self harm by a more than 500 percent! And epilepsy or seizure risk with the other drugs soared by more than 200 percent for this group.
Many of the patients in the study had other health problems, such as heart disease or diabetes. So, not surprisingly, they took other drugs to treat these conditions. Researchers believe this is why seniors are much more prone to suffer adverse events while taking these drugs. Their bodies just can't cope with the added drug burden.
Now, here's the good news I promised...
You can defeat depression without drugs
I've written about depression quite a bit in recent years. It's a growing problem, especially among nutritionally-challenged older adults.
First off, let me remind you of the safe plant extract that cuts depression risk in post-menopausal women. This is important because, depression strikes almost twice as many women as men. Plus, it often strikes after menopause.
But researchers found that taking this one plant extract cuts an older woman's risk of ever getting the blues by a whopping 75 percent!
Plus...
Remember the one form of exercise that brought about a complete remission in 65 percent of the depressed seniors who tried it?
Also, think about taking some St. John's Wort for mild to moderate symptoms. Ignore the naysayers because there's plenty of hard data showing that it does give you a boost. Go for 300 mg of a 0.3% standardized extract three times a day.
You will want to avoid amino acid supplements and extended sun exposure while taking St. John's Wort. These may lessen the therapeutic effect. However, here's the good news...unlike antidepressant drugs, which can take 30 days to take effect, St. John's Wort starts working in a few days.
You could also try the amino acid SAMe (s-adenosylmethionine) at 400 to 1200 mg/per day. It's more expensive than St. John's Wort, but highly effective and has been used a lot in Europe to naturally correct depression.
Tryptophan and DLPA (dl-phenylalanine) are two more amino acids that can be effective in improving depression if taken between meals (but not along with the other efforts).
Given the safety issues and efficacy questions for most prescription drugs on the market, you're much smarter to give these natural options a try first. In my opinion, they're just as effective -- and much safer -- than any RX solutions.
Related videos of interest:
Big Pharma: Poisoning for Profits
Why Antidepressants Don’t Work for Treating Depression
Are Antidepressants Making You Old Before Your Time?
Printer-friendly versionAbout the author
Nationally acclaimed as America’s “Nutrition Physician,” Dr. Spreen has been helping people stay healthy and disease-free as a private doctor, published author, and noted researcher.
In addition to his role as a Senior Member of the prestigious Health Sciences Institute Advisory Panel in Baltimore, MD, Dr. Spreen also coaches diving at the international and Olympic levels. NorthStar Nutritionals is proud to have Dr. Spreen as our Chief Research Advisor.
Dr. Spreen also writes the Guide to Good Health.
Email this Article
Comments
Anonymous
Thanks that is wise to state a drug that you can take without leaving one hanging in suspense
Anonymous
About taking St John Wort, can it be taken with Bystolic, Need to know that before even thinking of taking it. Thank You will be waiting for a reply on this.
willardf
dr spreen,
that may be the worst writing that i have come across in all the articles offered by this site. do you really not want to tell us anything or give us any information? did some editor clap together different articles of yours for submission here?
horrible.
if you have information important enough to deliver to us, then i suggest that you deliver it. leave any cute writing styles for another day. it would appear, sherlock, that in trying to keep information from us, you have shamefully succeeded.
Boomer12k
Depression is a STATE, that you end up in...in other words it is a result, an effect, it is just another SYMPTOM of what is wrong. So, if you are taking something, even a natural supplement, or nutrition, and I agree, it should help, then you are doing exactly the same thing as a doctor prescribing an "anti-depressant"....trying to suppress a SYMPTOM... It could be low thyroid. It could be your spouse, child, or loved one just died. You may have just lost your job. Depression can have many different causes. Not just a chemical imbalance. That cause IS WHAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED!!! So there isn't just a ONE FITS ALL ANSWER.
However, that being said. What if tension, pressure, stress, anxiety, and depression were not just CHEMICAL????? Even with perfect health, and feeling good physically, and eating right, I was still having emotional problems!!!! What if negative emotions, and mental states were not necessarily dependent on brain chemistry? What if you were dealing with an actual ENERGY? And even chemicals are a form of energy. What if emotions, and even depression was like LIGHT....a wavelength of energy???
Well that is exactly what was discovered in 2009, in a work called "Happiness is no charge". This is a personal emotional therapy, you don't need a practitioner. I have personally been doing the technique for 2 and a half years.
It gets at the root cause of negative emotions in the mind. It comes at the problem from a non-chemical stand point.
There is no DIET TO FOLLOW!!! Negative emotions can be stopped, many times in just a few minutes. That is CORRECT, MINUTES!!!!
Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Grief, fear, worry, doubt, Irritation, Frustration, Suppression, Repression, Compulsion, Obsessions, habits, can either get relief or even disappear, as well as other negative mental states. Interestingly enough, they all have the same mechanism in the mind!!!! MENTAL ENERGY!!!! That is why the same technique can work for each one!!!!! NEW DISCOVERY!!!!! Negative emotions basically evaporate! AND WHEN YOU ARE CALM, YOU ARE NOT DUMPING THE STRESS CHEMICALS INTO YOUR BODY!!!!!! The body chemistry is a REACTION...NOT A CAUSE...Deficiency IS a cause. Toxicity is a cause. Fine. Deal with it. But emotions ARE NOT a cause, they are an effect...When those emotion are handled, they no longer produce a body chemistry reaction...no stress, no cortisol....
The technique is a simple 1, 2, 3, step technique and can actually be learned from the concept behind it, to the technique itself in about FIVE MINUTES!!!!!
No kidding. I use the technique on everything from irritation and frustration to stress, an anxiety attack, panic attacks, when I am sad or upset, any type of negative emotion or circumstance. Gone in a few minutes, back to normal. NORMAL!!!! Even with a chemical problem because of having no thyroid, it works and you are back to calm. Because the above conditions are not just chemical. The chemistry is JUST A REACTION!!!!!!! In other words, it is just a symptom!!!!!! The negative emotion is a reaction, an effect, a symptom, of reacting negatively to something. Get to the source of the problem. Treat that, it will disappear regardless of the chemistry!!!!!!
My stress used to be a 10+, always "ON EDGE". Now my stress is between 0 and 1!!!! I start doing the technique immediately, and in a few minutes it is OVER WITH!!! It works for past upsets as well, because you are still affected by it on a subconscious level. So it can get at past Stress also...Stress and anxiety and the resultant "DEPRESSION"...CAN BE A THING OF THE PAST!!!!
Well worth your time checking it out!
Be Well and Happy.
Steve
Lori
Okay - can't hold my tongue any longer. willardf - why on earth do you read anything on this website at all?? and Steve - I have to say this again - there IS a "diet" we should all follow - it's real, whole, unpackaged food. If someone is having ANY kind of health issue - physical, emotional, mental, and/or even spiritual, what we eat will have a direct impact on the outcome of that issue (I'll refrain from using multiple exclamation points here)...
John van der Merwe
stress and the effects that are caused by it are purely self imposed and end up being a crutch for people to cling to and unfortunately the medical profession are having a field day, keeping big pharma in business by prescribing one useless drug after another, caring little or not knowing about the effects they are causing their patient.
To prevent all of the problems associated, sit quietly and say to yourself, "what can I do to prevent this from being something that I will have no control over, remembering that by being calm you will not fall into the trap and causing yourself to panic, THINK POSITIVELY and you will be able to deal with it!!
Anonymous
Sorry, Lori, but Willard is right- the article is missing something. I've re-read it several times and cannot get the info out of it. It is incomplete as well as poorly written.
applegirl
Oh for goodness sake Anonymous 7 the article is not in any way shape or form poorly written.
To say that the article is misssing something that YOU wanted to get out of it is fine...it's an opinion...but to suggest that the article is poorly written or to get downright nasty an accusatory as Willard has done in his comment is childish and misguided. If you've spent any time here you know Dr. Spreen is a regular contributor of valuable information. He gives it to us freely asking nothing in return. He is on OUR side for goodness sake. A trait that more and more doctors don't share.
What the heck are you both looking for anyway? This article warns us about the dangers of antidepressants...falls, seizures, strokes, and even death. Plus provides us with a few alternatives St. John's Wort , SAMe, Tryptophan and DLPA . What are you looking for a free book? It is reporting on a study and gives you the information you need. An excellent succinct piece of work if you ask me.
It is amazing to me that those who can't do certainly can criticize. Dr. Spreen I for one thank you for this article and all the others you so kindly provide us with.
Anonymous
I found the article informative. Drugs should always be taken as a last resort when all other natural proven methods have failed. I would like to know more about Boomer12K -"Happiness is no charge". Sounds interesting!
Anonymous
I think that what is being referred to as missing may be in reference to the following:
"But researchers found that taking this one plant extract cuts an older woman's risk of ever getting the blues by a whopping 75 percent!" OK. I give. What is it?
"Remember the one form of exercise that brought about a complete remission in 65 percent of the depressed seniors who tried it?" No. Can't remember what I've not seen.
I guess the good doctor is assuming that we are regular readers of all his writings, but such is not the case. Other than the fact that he leaves these questions up in the air, I see nothing wrong with his writing or style. And, the time and information that he gives are much appreciated.
Anonymous
Oh come on, how about clicking on the link to get the information which the good Dr provided and you neglected to access the information from, but you are ready to nag nag.JAM
Post new comment