A recent American study has suggested that post-menopausal women who take antidepressants regularly expose themselves to a small, but much significant, risk of a stroke. For the sake of study, as many as 36,293 women from the age groups of 50 to 79 were followed for about 6 years, and the conclusions were then drawn.

As per the study, women who are on antidepressants are 45% more likely to suffer a stroke in later life than those who avoid these drugs all together. An examination of overall deaths revealed that those on anti-depressants are 32% more at a risk of dying from all causes, as compared to the drug non-users.

"While this study did find an association between antidepressants and cardiovascular events, additional research needs to be done to determine exactly what it signifies. Older women taking antidepressants, like everyone else, should also work on modifying their other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as maintaining a healthy weight and controlling cholesterol levels and blood pressure", explained lead researcher Dr. Jordan Smoller, from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

Details of the complete study have been published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, and the data examined was taken from a much larger Women's Health Initiative Study.