Common physical health drugs may help treat mental diseases
A cohort study of approximately 142 000 Swedish patients with severe mental illness show reduced psychiatric morbidly associated with use of anti-cholesterol drugs, blood pressure drugs and medicines used for diabetes. The study was led by Christina Dalman at Karolinska Institutet in a collaboration with University College London.
The study, which is published in Jama Psychiatry, analyzed Swedish registers of patients treated for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and non-affective psychoses. All patients were under regular treatment for their mental illness and the study showed that those also treated with diabetes or heart medication reduced their risk for hospitalization with up to a fifth.
The study was financed by the Wellcome Trust, University College London Hospitals NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and Forte
Publication
Association of Hydroxylmethyl Glutaryl Coenzyme A Reductase Inhibitors, L-Type Calcium Channel Antagonists, and Biguanides With Rates of Psychiatric Hospitalization and Self-Harm in Individuals With Serious Mental Illness.
Hayes JH, Lundin A, Dal H, Lewis G, Wong I, Osborn DPJ, Dalman C, JAMA Psychiatry, January 2019.