Credit score: Unsplash/CC0 Public Area
Antidepressants can differ extensively in how they bodily have an effect on the physique, together with round a 4 kg distinction in weight change between sure medication (roughly 2.5 kg weight reduction from agomelatine and a couple of kg weight achieve from maprotiline), confirms a scientific overview and meta-analysis printed in The Lancet.
The authors emphasize that these findings mustn’t deter folks from taking antidepressants, which stay very important and efficient therapies for psychological well being situations. As a substitute, they are saying the outcomes spotlight the significance of tailoring the therapy to every particular person, bearing in mind their private well being and preferences.
This massive-scale systematic overview and community meta-analysis mixed outcomes from 151 medical trials and 17 US Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) studies involving over 58,000 contributors to evaluate the impact of 30 completely different antidepressants on the physique over a median of an eight-week course of therapy.
The research discovered that antidepressants additionally differ of their results on coronary heart charge, with a distinction of greater than a 20 beats-per-minute distinction in coronary heart charge (roughly eight BPM lower for fluvoxamine and a 14 BPM improve for nortriptyline); and blood strain, with a distinction of over 10 mmHg variation in blood strain (roughly seven mmHg lower for nortriptyline and a 5 mmHg improve for doxepin).
The research estimates that some antidepressants (e.g., maprotiline and amitriptyline) have been related to weight achieve in virtually half of people prescribed them, whereas different antidepressants (agomelatine) have been related to weight reduction in 55% of sufferers. Most antidepressants didn’t present main results on kidney or liver operate, electrolyte ranges, or coronary heart rhythm.
The authors additionally word that it’s not recognized if antidepressant-induced bodily results persist or change over time, and extra analysis is required to know how antidepressants have an effect on the physique over longer time durations.
The authors say their outcomes counsel that therapy pointers needs to be up to date to mirror the differing bodily unwanted effects of antidepressants, and selections about which drug to make use of ought to at all times be made by the physician and affected person on a person foundation. In addition they word that different results of antidepressants weren’t lined of their research, equivalent to sexual or emotional adjustments and variations in drug effectiveness, and these also needs to be thought-about alongside these outcomes.
Extra info:
The consequences of antidepressants on cardiometabolic and different physiological parameters: a scientific overview and community meta-analysis, The Lancet (2025). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01293-0
Quotation:
Antidepressants range extensively of their bodily unwanted effects, highlighting the necessity for customized prescribing (2025, October 21)
retrieved 22 October 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-10-antidepressants-vary-widely-physical-side.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Aside from any truthful dealing for the aim of personal research or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is offered for info functions solely.
