Consider this study from the Archives of Internal Medicine as described by Mercola.com.
Based on a five-year study of some 5,000 patients, those who were age 50 and older doubled their risk of broken bones when taking popular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac or Zoloft, versus those who never did.
What’s more, scientists said, animal research has found antidepressants may directly affect bone cells, decreasing their strength and size. Among the most common problems: Broken hips, forearms, ankles, feet and ribs. Unfortunately, the presence of depression all by itself can be a bone-breaker, stimulating the secretion of nonadrenaline that limits bone growth.
Fortunately, there are safer, healthier options available to tame your depression and strengthen your bones, like getting the right amount of vitamin D (a common problem among older adults) and exercise.
This is truly an alarming study. I was unaware of the bone-busting implications of SSRI’s but I have been concerned about the consequences of stopping the normal neurotransmitter cascade. An SSRI will stop the breakdown of serotonin. This strategy keeps serotonin around longer, but limits the downstream metabolites of serotonin. We don’t know much about these metabolites, but this study might point to one important function: keeping bones healthy.
I also want to express my concern about the natural neurotransmitter therapy that is making the rounds of naturally-minded physicians eager to help depressed patients. The “targeted amino acid therapy” that is sold (in very expensive bottles) based on the results of a urinary neurotransmitter test might be just as dangerous.
We don’t know enough about the brain and its chemicals to manipulate them safely.
Maybe the altered neurotransmitter levels are a reflection of some other imbalance that needs to be addressed. Manipulating neurotransmitter levels (even with “natural amino acids”) can mask things just as well as SSRI’s.
I had a patient that, after 3 months on such a therapy, proclaimed that while her depression was much better, she just felt “dead inside.” All turned out well because we abandoned that course of therapy quickly and used her own innate healing ability to identify and balance the underlying causes.