High blood pressure drugs impact depression, bipolar disorder

https://goo.gl/bjkaDC

When comparing the four most common classes of antihypertensive drugs, investigators found that two drugs were associated with an increased risk for mood disorders, while one drug decreased mood disorder risk.

Dr. Padmanabhan and colleagues identified that people prescribed beta-blockers and calcium antagonists were at twofold increased risk of hospital admission for mood disorders, compared with patients on angiotensin antagonists.

In contrast, patients prescribed angiotensin antagonists had the lowest risk for hospitalization with mood disorders, compared with patients taking other blood pressure drugs and patients on no antihypertensive therapy from the control group.

Patients from both the group prescribed thiazide diuretics and the control group were found to have the same risk for mood disorders.

The team also found that the presence of co-existing medical conditions significantly increased the risk for mood disorders in the 5-year follow-up period.