Narcotics And Antidepressants Linked To Fractures
Q: Elderly women who take antidepressants or
other drugs that affect their central nervous system are more likely to suffer
hip and other fractures, find researchers from the University of California,
San Francisco.
A:Studies show drugs that affect the central nervous system, such as
antidepressants and narcotics, can cause side effects like sleepiness and
dizziness. Those side effects increase the risk of falling and breaking a bone.
Little research exists, however, on the link between bone fractures and the
various types of medications falling into these two classes of drugs.
Investigators studied the use of four different categories of central nervous
system medications in around 8,100 women age 65 and older. The four categories
of drugs studied included benzodiazepines, antidepressants, anticonvulsants and
narcotics. Women were assessed for use of the drugs between 1992 and 1996, and
evaluated for non-spinal fractures until 1999. The average follow-up of the
women in the study was about five years.
Researchers noted a significantly higher rate of fractures among women taking
any of the medications when compared with those not using the medications.
Women taking one of the narcotics were nearly 40-percent