Tricyclic anti-depressants such as Aventyl HCL, Elavil, Endep, Sinequan, Norpramin, Tofranic, and Pamelor are used in low doses to relieve pain for cancer patients. According to Web MD, these drugs increase levels of chemicals produced in the brain to improve mood and lower doses relieve pain and may help a person to sleep. For these reasons they are prescribed to cancer patients.
A recent study done between 1989 and 2003 by Dr. Susanne Oksbjerg Dalton of the Danish Cancer Society on a population of 354,551 showed a very strong correlation between those taking tricylic anti-depressants and the 92 new cases of non-hodgekin lymphoma. Other types of anti-depressants showed no higher incidence than the general population.
This study backs up a previous study done by Dr. Dalton where a long term usage correlation was observed between Tricylic antidepressants and non-hodgekins lymphoma in a population of 30,000. The results were reported in the July issue of Epidemiology.
