Heart attack patients far more likely to die within one year if given anti-depressants

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (Fox 32 News) - Heart attack patients who are take anti-depressants are much more likely to die within a year than those who do not, a new study has found.

Researchers looked at nearly 9,000 heart attack patients and found that those who were prescribed anti-depressants when they were released from the hospital had a 66% greater risk of dying within one year than patients who were not.

Science Daily notes that the greater risk of dying was not necessarily caused by the anti-depressants themselves.

The study was presented Saturday at a convention of the European Society of Cardiology by lead author Nadia Fehr of Switzerland.