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Studies Examining Antidepressants and Diabetes

A literature analysis of 20 studies showed an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in individuals taking antidepressants, (Virginio Salvi, Ilaria Grua, Giancarlo Cerveri, Claudio Mencacci, and Francesco Barone-Adesi, "The Risk of New-onset Diabetes in Antidepressant Users- A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis, PLoS One 12, no. 7 (July 2017): e0182088, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0182088). According to another study of 199,608 youth aged 5-20 years, taking antidepressants at least 150 days almost doubled the risk of type 2 diabetes, (Mehmet Burcu, Julie M. Zito, Daniel J. Safer, Laurence S. Magder, Susan dosReis, Fadia T. Shaya, and Geoffrey L. Rosenthal, "Association of Antidepressant Medications With Incident Type 2 Diabetes among Medicaid-Insured Youths," JAMA Pediatrics 171, no. 12 (October 2017): 1200-1207, doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.2896. Antidepressants are used for other reasons besides depression, such as anxiety and obsessive compulsive behaviors. As discussed in my book, diabetes can be harmful to the brain, cause insomnia and changes in blood sugars are linked directly to anger, anxiety, sadness and frustration, which may increase problem behaviors in autism or other individuals with communication impairments. Furthermore, my book discussed a literature analysis which showed one class of antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors had limited utility in autism. This is another reason why we need more availability of applied behavior analysis, psychotherapies and use diet and exercise to decrease the use of medication.