It is researchers at the Karolinska Institute and Sahlgrenska University Hospital who have investigated how this affects the brains of those with dementia. Antidepressant medications are often used to alleviate symptoms such as anxiety, depression, aggression, and sleep disturbances in dementia patients.
The researchers have followed the patients' cognitive development over time and compared both medicated and non-medicated groups as well as different types of antidepressant medications. A total of 18,740 patient data were collected from various registers.
Difference between medications
The results, published in the journal BMC Medicine, indicate that patients with dementia treated with antidepressant medications experience increased cognitive decline, compared to patients who do not receive the same treatment. The results also point to differences between different medications.
The study cannot determine whether the cognitive decline is due to the medications themselves or the depressive symptoms, but the researchers saw a clear correlation.
"Depressive symptoms can both exacerbate cognitive decline and worsen quality of life, so it is important to treat this. Our results can help doctors and other healthcare professionals choose antidepressant medications that are better suited for patients with dementia," says Sara Garcia Ptacek at the Karolinska Institute and one of the researchers behind the study in a press release.
Certain groups
The researchers will continue to investigate whether certain patient groups, such as people with specific dementia types or biomarkers, respond better or worse to different antidepressant medications.
About 11 percent of Sweden's population used some form of antidepressant medication in 2023, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare.
The results point to differences between different antidepressant medications.
The SSRI preparation escitalopram was linked to the fastest cognitive decline, followed by the SSRI preparations citalopram and sertraline. Mirtazapine, which has a different mechanism of action, had less negative cognitive impact than escitalopram.
