Re: Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft Increase Risk of Breast Cancer more on subject

[Guest guest]

Tricyclic antidepressants that researchers say carry an increased risk of breast

cancer include amoxapine (sold under the brand name Asendin), clomipramine

(Anafranil), desipramine (Norpramin) and trimipramine (Surmontil and

Rhotrimine). Paroxetine, another type of antidepressant sold as Paxil, has also

been identified as carrying an increased breast cancer risk.

Tricylics and other antidepressants that do not carry increased risk include

amitriptyline (Elavil), maprotiline (Ludiomil), nortriptyline (Aventyl),

protriptyline (Triptil), sertraline (Zoloft) and fluoxetine (Prozac).

Many experts are warning that, while the findings are worrisome, the risk must

be kept in perspective, and women should not stop taking medication for

depression because they fear cancer.

" Women should not panic, " said Marilyn Schneider, executive director of the

Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative, which funded the research. " The

risks and benefits of antidepressant medication have to be balanced, and the

issue should be discussed with a physician before any action is taken.

" The new research, published in the British Journal of Cancer, looked at the

effect of 10 tricyclic antidepressants -- six of them genotoxic (shown to damage

DNA in laboratory experiments) and four of them non-genotoxic.

Women who took the genotoxic drugs saw their risk of breast cancer more than

double. Those who took the non-genotoxic drugs did not see their risk increase.

The breast cancer did not show up until 11 to 15 years after initial

prescription of the medication.

" What happens is there is an immediate effect, but it's not detected until a

decade later, or more, " Dr. Sharpe said. He said the drugs seem to damage DNA,

which promotes the growth of cancerous tumours.

More than one million Canadians are believed to currently be suffering from

depression. During their lifetime, one in every four women and one in every

eight men will require medical treatment for depression.

About 10 per cent of Canadian women and 5 per cent of men will take

antidepressants at some point in their lives. About one in four of those women

now take tricyclics, an older form of medication for depression.

In recent years, tricyclics have been largely overtaken by a new class of drugs

with fewer side effects, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Earlier research published by Cotterchio, a senior epidemiologist at

Cancer Care Ontario, found that at least one popular SSRI may increase the risk

of breast cancer.She and her team found that women who took paroxetine (better

known by its brand name Paxil) saw their risk of breast cancer increase

seven-fold. In an interview yesterday, she said the findings should be treated

cautiously. " You can't say from a single observational study, what people should

or shouldn't do.

" But, at the same time, Dr. Cotterchio said that, personally, she would consider

switching from paroxetine to another drug because of the magnitude of risk that

showed up in the research.

The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, also showed a

doubling of the breast cancer risk among women who took tricyclic

antidepressants for two years or more.

Dr. Cotterchio said that, more than anything, more research is needed,

particularly on the link between SSRIs and cancer. " From a public health point

of view, SSRIs are a much greater concern than tricyclics because so many people

take these drugs, " she said.

Allan Steingart, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of

Toronto who also has a busy clinical practice, said that SSRIs are endocrine

disruptors, and they can alter estrogen levels. Side effects include changes in

breast cancer density, lactation in women who are not pregnant and sexual

dysfunction.

SOURCE :

very good article on the subject at :

http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/somdepdrugra.html

God bless