PTSD and Antidepressants Linked to Diabetes

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Having a high risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder was associated with almost double the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study in JAMA Psychiatry. Use of antidepressant medications accounted for nearly half of that increased risk.

Harvard University researchers examined data from the Nurses’ Health Study II, a group of 49,739 US women over a 22-year period, and examined body mass index, smoking, alcohol intake, diet quality, physical activity, and antidepressant use as mediators of possible increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) for women with PTSD.

“Antidepressant use and a higher body mass index associated with PTSD accounted for nearly half of the increased risk of T2D for women with PTSD,” they wrote. “Smoking, diet quality, alcohol intake, and physical activity did not further account for increased risk of T2D for women with PTSD.”

Roberts AL, Agnew-Blais JC, Spiegelman D, and et al. “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Sample of Women: A 22-Year Longitudinal Study.” JAMA Psychiatry 72, no. 3 (March 1, 2015): 203–10. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2632. (Abstract)

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