Newer antidepressants may increase the risk of serious health problems in older people compared to older pills, researchers say.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are more likely to cause death and issues such as heart attack, stroke, falls and seizures than older tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), according to a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Researchers from the universities of Nottingham and East Anglia analysed data for more than 60,000 people diagnosed with depression between 1996 and 2007. All were aged 65 and over.

Those patients not taking any antidepressants had a seven per cent risk of dying from any cause but this rose to 8.1 per cent for those taking TCAs and 10.6 per cent for SSRIs.

The risk was even higher for other types of antidepressants, at 11.4 per cent.

The risks of stroke and fracture were noticeably higher in those taking SSRIs compared to TCAs and SSRIs were linked to the most falls of any drugs.

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