Are you currently taking antidepressants? Were you informed of this possible side effect? As with all drugs, any positive health benefits should outweigh the risk of that drug’s side effects. Remember drug companies only make profit if they sell drugs….they will always minimize any potential side effects and pump up claims of health benefits. While mental emotion cannot be measured objectively with a “ruler” artery thickness can.
Taking antidepressants may raise the risk of heart disease in men. They can thicken artery walls through an as yet unknown mechanism.
The drugs seem to accelerate atherosclerosis by increasing the thickness of the “intima media”, the inner and middle layers of the arteries. They particularly affect the carotid arteries that feed blood to your brain.
According to the Los Angeles Times:
“… [T]he intima-media thickness of men taking antidepressants was 37 microns (about 5 percent) thicker than that of men not taking the drugs. When the team looked at 59 twin pairs in which one twin was taking the drugs and the second was not, the artery was 41 microns thicker in the twin taking the drugs.”
Consider nutritional deficiencies are of epidemic proportions in the average American diet high in processed foods and can easily contribute to depression. One of the most common deficiencies is lack of high quality omega-3 fats. Many people don’t realize that their brain is 60 percent fat, but not just any fat. It is DHA, which is an animal based omega-3 fat.
Other important deficiencies that can contribute to depression are lack exercise and insufficient sleep. You can have the best diet and exercise program possible but if you aren’t sleeping well you can easily become depressed. Sleep and depression are so intimately linked that a sleep disorder is actually part of the definition of the symptom complex that gives the label depression.
Vitamin D is also important. One study found that people with the lowest levels of vitamin D were 11 times more prone to be depressed than those who had normal levels.
Call your Maitland Chiropractor today for a nutritional consult 407-629-5333. Vitamin D levels should be checked by laboratory tests before starting supplementation with Vitamin D and monitored periodically thereafter. We have affordable Vitamin D lab testing options for those with no insurance as well.
Source: Los Angeles Times April 2, 2011
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