Happy Pills May Trigger Diabetes, Antidepressants Cause Increase in Weight

Happy pills or antidepressants are dangerous for people suffering from diabetes, according to a research released Tuesday.

The major study involved more than a million patients has shown that those taking all antidepressant pills are at far higher risk from the condition. Academics from Southampton University think this may be because antidepressants cause weight gain which in turn leads to type 2 diabetes.

But despite the strong link, they cannot be sure that the pills are definitely causing the condition. Patients on antidepressants are more likely to be overweight so have a higher risk of developing diabetes in the first place than healthy individuals.

The numbers of Britons taking antidepressants has soared in the last decade and more than 50 million prescriptions were handed out by GPs last year compared to just 20 million in 1999. But experts say doctors are handing out the pills too freely without considering the possible long-term side effects.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, academics from Southampton University looked at 25 research papers that involved just over a million patients. The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, found many patients were developing type 2 diabetes - the commonest form - after they had been prescribed antidepressants, which suggests the pills cause the illness.

Antidepressants can cause weight gain and obesity which in turn worsens the body's ability to regulate blood sugar -which triggers diabetes. Lead researcher Dr Katharine Barnard, a health psychologist from the University of Southampton said: 'Antidepressants are used widely in the UK, with a significant increase in their use recently.