Depressed people could be at an increased risk of developing irregular heartbeat, says a study.
Anti-depressants have been previously linked with some serious, but rare heart rhythm disturbances, prompting the question of whether they might also raise the risk of atrial fibrillation.
However, in the study, the risk of irregular heartbeat was 7.65-fold higher before starting anti-depressants, suggesting that anti-depressant medication itself is not associated.
On the other hand, taking anti-depressant drugs helped reduce the depressive symptoms, the study showed.