SSRIs may help women with depression tolerate extreme heat, with responses more like those without depression, a laboratory study suggests.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, are medicines commonly used to treat mental health conditions including depression and anxiety.

Media reports, social media posts and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have suggested SSRIs may increase vulnerability to heat-related illness.

However, researchers found that women with clinical depression who took an SSRI may withstand extreme heat better than those not treating their depression with medication.

The study was carried out by researchers in the Penn State Department of Kinesiology.

Kathleen Fisher, first author of the study, said: “The human body primarily cools itself in two ways, by sweating and by increasing blood flow to the skin so that heat can be released to the environment.

“This study showed that depression interferes with how women’s bodies regulate their temperatures in the heat. Fortunately, SSRIs seem to largely restore the body’s ability to respond to increases in internal temperature.”

The team compared women without depression with those diagnosed with the condition, including women taking different types of antidepressants.

When their body temperatures rose, women with untreated depression were slower to begin sweating and increasing blood flow to the skin.

Their bodies were also less efficient at pumping blood to the skin than those of women without depression and women taking an SSRI.

Depression affects about 10 per cent of the US population and is twice as common among women, the researchers said.

SSRIs, including sertraline and fluoxetine, and serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, or SNRIs, including duloxetine and venlafaxine, are commonly prescribed alongside counselling to treat depression.

Previous research suggests depression disrupts the body’s ability to regulate temperature.

Penn State researchers had previously found that blood vessels dilated less effectively in women with depression. Dilation allows blood vessels to widen, helping more blood reach the skin to cool the body.

Women taking SSRIs showed improved blood vessel dilation similar to that seen among people without depression.

The latest study examined whether the same improvement occurred during heat stress.

Researchers recruited 64 women, almost all in their 20s. The group included 16 without depression and 16 with depression who were not taking medication.

A further 16 had depression and were taking an SSRI, while 16 had depression and were taking an SNRI.

Participants swallowed a small capsule that transmitted their internal body temperature throughout the experiment.

They then wore a suit fitted with tubes that allowed researchers to pump heated water through it.

After 10 minutes of adjusting to water at 91°F, around 33°C, the temperature was raised to 125°F, around 52°C.

The experiment ended when each participant’s internal temperature had risen by 1.8°F, or 1°C. This took an average of 45 minutes.

Researchers also measured skin temperature on the arm, calf, chest and thigh, along with heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow to the skin and sweating.

Professor W Larry Kenney, a study co-author, said: “The water pumped into the suit was 125 F, causing skin temperature to rise to about 100 F.

“As the skin continued to be heated to temperatures similar to sitting in a hot tub, the women’s internal temperature continued to rise.”

Women with untreated depression were slower to begin sweating and increasing blood flow to the skin than women without depression.

When blood flow to the skin increased, it was less efficient. Despite beginning to sweat later, women with untreated depression did not sweat less overall.

Women taking SSRIs responded to heat in a similar way to women without depression.

By contrast, women taking SNRIs responded similarly to those with untreated depression. SSRIs therefore normalised responses to heat stress, while SNRIs did not.

Researchers found no differences in blood pressure between the four groups.

Fisher said: “Up until now, there has been very little data on how depression or any of these classes of antidepressive drugs affect people’s responses to heat stress.

“This study took the first step toward understanding how women with depression, whether taking medications or not, may respond to extreme heat.”

Kenney said the findings challenged common beliefs that SSRIs increase vulnerability to heat.

He said: “In prior studies, my collaborators and I have identified how several factors, especially age, sex, and activity level, contribute to risk from extreme heat.

“Additionally, there has been widespread concern that many medications contribute to heat vulnerability, but the research evidence behind the risks of many medicines is often thin or nonexistent.

“Both physicians and people taking SSRIs should be aware that these medications do not seem to contribute to heat vulnerability. Rather, SSRIs improve heat tolerance in depression.”

Avni Wellness has secured Rs 4 crore, around US$470,000, in seed funding to expand its products and digital commerce capabilities.

The Mumbai-based women’s health start-up plans to strengthen its online retail operations and increase its presence across digital marketplaces.

It will also expand its cycle nutrition product range and grow its women-led network of micro-entrepreneurs.

Founded in 2021 by Sujata Pawar and Apurv Agarwal, Avni Wellness offers science-backed, toxin-free products spanning adolescence, reproductive years and menopause.

Its portfolio includes a patented antimicrobial reusable sanitary pad and a liposomal iron supplement designed to address iron deficiency among women in India.

Liposomal supplements encase nutrients in tiny fat-like particles intended to support absorption.

The company also offers products for polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, calcium supplementation, urinary and vaginal health and seed-based hormonal nutrition. PCOS is a condition that can affect hormone levels, periods and fertility.

Proteus Partners led the funding round, with participation from angel investors Puru Gupta, Sreejith Moolayil, A. Velumani and Somya Nigam.

Avni Wellness said it aims to address gaps in women’s healthcare in India by focusing on hormonal health, nutrition and long-term wellbeing while incorporating livelihood generation and sustainability into its model.

Only 31 per cent of US voters believe healthcare does a good job of meeting women’s needs, according to a national survey.

The survey found broad agreement that women have distinct health needs requiring specific attention, but that care falls short at several stages of life.

Impact Research and Echelon Insights conducted the survey for Center Forward among 1,206 registered voters in the likely electorate across the US.

Tara Evans, marketing director for Plan B One-Step, said: “These findings should serve as a wake-up call for the health care industry and for policymakers.

“Women are telling us loudly and clearly that the system is not working for them. From reproductive health to menopause care to postpartum support, the gaps are real, they are significant, and voters want action.”

Only 31 per cent of respondents said the healthcare system did a good or very good job of meeting women’s health needs.

This compared with 41 per cent who said it performed well in meeting men’s health needs.

Half of the women surveyed said the system did not pay enough attention to their health issues.

Some 41 per cent rated the system as poor or very poor at meeting women’s needs immediately before, during and after menopause.

A further 38 per cent gave the same rating for care following pregnancy and during the postpartum period.

The figure was 35 per cent for care provided while women were seeking to prevent pregnancy.

Overall, 92 per cent agreed that women have distinct health needs deserving specific attention, including 89 per cent of Republicans and 95 per cent of Democrats.

Access to screening for cancers affecting women was considered very important for policymakers to address by 81 per cent of respondents.

Prenatal care was prioritised by 78 per cent, while 77 per cent highlighted both gynaecological care and cardiovascular services.

Postpartum care was considered very important by 72 per cent, while 68 per cent said the same about diabetes and weight management services.

Some 46 per cent of voters said the healthcare system did a poor or very poor job of meeting the needs of rural patients.

Rural women were six percentage points more likely than voters overall to report difficulty accessing quality care.

The findings also showed that gaps in care were not evenly distributed.

Women who described their health as fair or poor were 15 percentage points more likely than those in excellent or very good health to say the system paid too little attention to their needs.

People earning less than US$50,000 a year were among those most likely to feel overlooked.

Among voters earning between US$30,000 and US$49,000 annually, 61 per cent said the system did not pay enough attention to their health issues.

Evans said: “The picture this data paints is one of a system that works better for some Americans than others, and women, particularly those with lower incomes or in rural communities, are bearing the greatest burden of that failure.

“Plan B is committed to being part of the solution by ensuring that at the very minimum, women have access to emergency contraception when they need it.”

Plan B One-Step is an over-the-counter emergency contraceptive available in all 50 US states without identification or a prescription.

The company says it donates up to 500,000 units each year to clinics, non-profit organisations, advocacy groups and other qualifying organisations supporting medically underserved communities.

The survey was conducted from 12 to 16 January 2026 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Plan B One-Step is a backup form of birth control intended to help prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex or when another contraceptive method fails.

It is not an abortion pill and does not affect implantation or harm an existing pregnancy.

Emergency contraception such as Plan B is used within 72 hours of unprotected sex and works better the sooner it is taken.

The findings form part of the 2026 Women’s Health Mandate, a five-part bipartisan series examining women’s healthcare in the US.