According to a shocking, new study, men and women who take two wildly popular drugs at the same time increase their risk of bleeding inside the skull by a staggering 60 percent.
You won’t believe the common drugs involved. And you won’t believe how quickly you can run into trouble with this combo. So let’s get right to the details…
For this study, researchers analyzed data on more than four million men and women prescribed an antidepressant drug for the first time. The data came from the South Korea National Health Insurance Database.
Then, the researchers divided the participants into two groups. The first group included men and women who also took a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug such as ibuprofen while on the antidepressant. The second group included men and women who didn’t take an NSAID while on the antidepressant.
Next, the researchers looked at participants who experienced intracranial bleeding within the first 30 days of taking these drugs. Overall, they found men and women who took both types of drugs concurrently ran a 60 percent higher risk of intracranial bleeding.
The researchers took into account variables that could affect the results, such as the participants’ age and chronic medical conditions.
And it didn’t matter which type of antidepressant the patient took…an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) like Zoloft…a newer SNRI (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) like Cymbalta…or an older tricyclic antidepressant. The risk remained the same.
Some patients in the study also took a third drug, an anticlotting drug, which research typically associates with an increased risks of intracranial bleeding. But oddly, the anticlotting drug did not further increase risk in these cases.
So, let’s step back from the study at hand for a moment and look at the history of SSRIs…
When SSRIs first hit the market, big pharma hailed them as magic bullets. But we now know the drugs only improve depression symptoms for about one out of every seven people who take them. And that one patient probably responds due to a placebo effect. The drugs also cause a whole slew of side effects.
In fact, on Tuesday, I wrote about another recent, disturbing study about two SSRI antidepressant drugs. The study found an association between pregnant women who took either of these drugs and serious birth defects in their children.
Amazingly, the researchers downplayed the findings. They stated we should all be “reassured” the drugs “only” increased the rate of these terrible birth defects in the offspring of pregnant women by just two, three, or almost four times! Apparently, in the world of modern drugs, that kind of awful risk is an “acceptable” trade-off.
SSRI drugs artificially increase serotonin levels by poisoning a key enzymatic process in the brain that normally acts to balance serotonin in the brain. In my book with Mike Jawer called Your Emotional Type, we first proposed the idea that an imbalance in serotonin causes depression. Not a lack of serotonin.
But SSRIs don’t correct this imbalance. In most cases, they only make it worse.
Plus, they give depressed men and women the energy to act impulsively. I believe observations show that SSRIs cause violent, mentally imbalanced outbursts, which play a major role in suicides and even mass homicides.
And if you think these drugs couldn’t get any worse…they do.
The new SNRI antidepressant drugs like Cymbalta artificially increase the brain’s supply of norepinephrine and serotonin, which is essentially adrenalin.
Can you imagine all that could go wrong by pumping the brains of depressed people full of adrenalin? Imagine the effects on mental health and behavior. When you pump the brains full of adrenalin in people who are already struggling with dark thoughts and ideas of harming themselves and others, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Plus, previous research links elevated levels of norepinephrine with an increased risk of bleeding in the brain. And of course, NSAIDs like ibuprofen increase bleeding risk as well. And on Monday, I told you about new research linking NSAIDs with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease events like stroke.
So none of this information is new. We just finally have a study linking it all together.
Doctors in the U.K. expressed immediate concerns about the new findings because of the high numbers of patients who routinely use both antidepressants along with NSAIDs. In fact, two-thirds of adults with major depression also have chronic pain–with both sharing some common morbidities, psychological risk factors, and neurobiological processes.
Here’s one final tragedy…
The population of South Korea just reached 50 million. So even in this ancient, Asian country, with access to effective treatments for depression–like acupuncture and herbal remedies–nearly 10 percent of the population uses a dangerous, western antidepressant drug.
Antidepressant drugs–the gift that keeps on taking.
If you don’t kill yourself or someone else first, you may just experience an early intracranial hemorrhage that puts your brain out of commission altogether. All at a younger age.
In my book with Mike Jawer Your Emotional Type, you will find effective, non-drug approaches to depression, chronic pain, and related conditions. You’ll also find a simple way to assess which treatments will work best for you, based on your emotional type.
Also, tomorrow, I’ll tell you how making some simple dietary changes can reduce your risk of depression by up to 60 percent.
In the meantime, please forward this important report on to your friends and family. Everyone needs to know about the serious dangers of combing these two kinds of drugs.
Source:
“Risk of intracranial haemorrhage in antidepressant users with concurrent use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: nationwide propensity score matched study,” British Medical Journal (www.bmj.com) 7/14/2015