Doctors may want to give stroke victims antidepressants right away instead of waiting until they develop depression, a common complication, new research suggests.

The findings may lead to an expanded use for antidepressants. Someday high-risk people like stroke patients might take the drugs before suffering depression, just as people now take cholesterol drugs to prevent heart attacks, the lead author said.

The researchers gave low doses of the antidepressant Lexapro to stroke patients. The patients on the drug were 4.5 times less likely to develop depression than patients taking a dummy pill.