Common Antihypertensive Drugs May Increase Risk of Mood Disorders

Some antihypertensive medications may increase the risk for mood disorders, according to a new study.

Growing evidence suggests that common antihypertensive medications may influence the onset of mood disorders such as major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Study: Many Hypotensive Older Adults Remain on Antihypertensives
Effects of Antihypertensive Drug Treatment on Cognitive Function and the Risk of Dementia
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To better understand this association, the researchers analyzed data from a large hospital database. Overall, the researchers included data on 144,066 patients aged 40 to 80 years who had been taking 1 of 4 common antihypertensive medications for at least 90 days.

Patients were compared with a control group of 111,936 who were not exposed to the antihypertensive medications.

After a median 5-year follow-up, 299 hospital admissions for mood disorders occurred. The median time to hospital admission was 2.3 years after medication initiation.

Individuals taking β-blockers and calcium antagonists had a 2-fold higher risk than those taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, who had the lowest risk of hospital admission.

There was no significant difference in risk between the control group and those taking thiazide diuretics.

“Overall, our exploratory findings suggest possible differential effects of antihypertensive medications on mood that merits further study: calcium antagonists and β-blockers may be associated with increased risk, whereas angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers may be associated with a decreased risk of mood disorders,” the researchers concluded.

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Boal AH, Smith DJ, McCallum L, et al. Monotherapy with major antihypertensive drug classes and risk of hospital admissions for mood disorders [published online October 10, 2016]. Hypertension. http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.116.08188.